We always expect PBS to be better than it is.
Then we turn on THE NEWSHOUR or FRONTLINE and are immediately reminded just how awful this corporate sponsored nonsense is.
I really don't care one way or another about it now. PBS could disappear tomorrow and I wouldn't care.
I used to offer the SESAME STREET defense -- you know, the poor children who would miss out. But now that is a show for HBO and who really cares anymore?
The over the air channels make up for PBS, in my opinion, when it comes to children's programming.
You can get Jack Hannah, for example, doing nature (and I think Hannah does a great show) on over the air, non-PBS channels.
Now if you have cable, you can find even more. Same is true of NETFLIX. In fact, if you only had access to NETFLIX, with Julie Andrews' show alone, you have solid children's programming.
So since PBS cannot produce quality news programming, who really cares what happens to it now?
"Iraq snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):
Wednesday, December 20, 2017. Twitter censors the prime minister of the
KRG, AP reveals many more civilians have been killed during the battle
of Mosul than the governments have revealed, Burn Pits 360 explains how
the government is still not helping veterans, and much more.
The effects from burn pits? An issue we have covered since Bully Boy Bush occupied the White House. And in all the time since, the US government still cannot address the issue despite a lot of pretending otherwise. BURN PITS 360 has issued the following:
Turning to Iraq . . .
The effects from burn pits? An issue we have covered since Bully Boy Bush occupied the White House. And in all the time since, the US government still cannot address the issue despite a lot of pretending otherwise. BURN PITS 360 has issued the following:
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Turning to Iraq . . .
A second day of anti-government protests in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region has killed at least six people and injured over 70
Security forces kill at least five demonstrators in a rally against the Kurdish Regional Government in northern Iraq aje.io/gasy5
IRAQI NEWS notes:
The Iraqi government could remove the Kurdistan Region leadership following violent anti-government protests over the past two days, a newspaper reported, quoting presidential sources.
Saudi newspaper Okaz, quoting “trusted sources” at the Iraqi presidency, said Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi is mulling various options to address the crisis in the autonomous, northern Iraq region, including the removal of Nechirvan Barzani’s cabinet based on the 78th article of the constitution, which empowers the prime minister to appoint and remove ministers after parliament approval.
Abadi, speaking during his weekly press conference on Tuesday, urged Kurdistan’s government to “respect the peaceful protests” as the region closed a second day of violent protests decrying delayed employee payments and poor services.
It's interesting to hear a prime minister of Iraq claim the need to "respect peaceful protests." It was Hayder al-Abadi's predecessor Nouri al-Maliki who was responsible for the Hawija massacre. The April 23, 2013 massacre of a sit-in in Hawija which resulted from Nouri's federal forces storming in. Alsumaria noted Kirkuk's Department of Health (Hawija is in Kirkuk) announced 50 activists have died and 110 were injured in the assault. AFP reported the death toll eventually (as some wounded died) rose to 53 dead. UNICEF noted that the dead included 8 children (twelve more were injured).
Though there have been annual demonstrations to remember those killed, Hayder al-Abadi has never commented on this massacre. Hayder, after all, is a member of State of Law -- Nouri al-Maliki's political coalition -- and he is a member of the Dawa Party (Nouri's political party).
Suddenly, he's concerned about "peaceful protests"?
And how does what's taken place qualify as peaceful? The offices of political parties are being set on fire.
Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani Tweeted the following:
My message to the protesters
These are challenging times for our region. Your frustrations are understandable, and I hear them. Peaceful expression of views is of course a legitimate and democratic right...
goo.gl/oQSqnK
پەیامم بۆ خۆپیشاندەران
ھەرێمەکەمان لە ئێستادا بە دۆخێکێ ھەستیاردا تێپەڕ دەبێت. من لە داواکارییەکانی ئێوە تێدەگەم و ھاوسۆزم لەگەڵتان. دەربڕینی ئاشتیانەی بیروبۆچوون مافێکی شەرعی و دیموکراسییە.
بەڵام توندوتیژی ھیچ کاتێک پەسەند نییە...
goo.gl/FLA9uG
Use the second link. The first link takes you to this:
https://goo.gl/oQSqnK – this goo.gl shortlink has been disabled. It was found to be violating our Terms of Service. Click here and here for more information about our terms and policies respectively.
Really?
An official statement from an elected leader is found to be violating the Terms of Service?
That was rat f**king and that's all it was -- disabling the link. It was targeted with complaints so that it wouldn't be accessible to those who read English only.
Here's the statement that Twitter will not currently link to:
My message to the protesters
These are challenging times for our region. Your frustrations are
understandable, and I hear them. Peaceful expression of views is of
course a legitimate and democratic right.
But violence is never acceptable. I call on all of you to conduct your protests peacefully.
We must also remember that we still live in a violent and fragile
region. Just in the last day our Peshmerga have fought a skirmish with
Daesh terrorists. Of even more concern is that we are tracking movements
by Iraqi forces in Makhmour.
We are stronger when we are united. I appreciate your resilience and
patience in this difficult period. We have got through much worse in the
past, and I still believe that, together, we will build a better
future.
Again, censoring a statement by an elected leader -- just on the face of it -- is wrong.
But read over the above and ask how that got censored?
The answer?
Complaints to Twitter.
About actual content?
No, just a mass of complaints made with the knowledge that it would get the link disabled (at least temporarily).
There's a great deal going on here.
And in social media, it's being noted that it's awfully lucky for some that the Kurds are facing this. Who benefits? The age old question is asked and the answer most often given is the US government.
In part because the US government has (again) turned its back on the KRG. In part because the moves of the political party Goran appear to increase turmoil (and Goran was fueled by CIA seed money).
Gorran (change) movement (second largest group in parliament) and Islamic Group (fifth largest group in parliament) withdraw from the Iraqi Kurdish regional cabinet. #KurdistanProtests
The change movement will also leave top regional parliament position and suspend it's 'strategic' agreement with the PUK.
When have they contributed for the sake of KRG? Let these traitors go to Baghdad parliament. With their violent terror protestors.
The protestors may be genuine but there are some who question that and those questioning may have reason to do so.
Hey, you know what! Let’s protest and riot against KRG and their leadership for not giving salaries. Let’s chant Abadi’s name. #traitors #slemani #Ranya #PUK #Gorran #KRG #Barzani #KDP #Peshmerga #TwitterKurds
The weird thing is; they riot against KRG for salaries, but everyone knows Abadi has cut the money for this. Still they chant his name. Besides, ISIS, Iraqi army and PMU are attacking Kurdistan. This all happened in last 2-3 days. Betrayal of 16 october is still pending...
If this protests contain any outside elements, it's most likely as key instigators.
The salary issue is genuine. It has been going on for some time. Whether it is being used by certain forces to manipulate is the question. And the answer may very well be: No. It may be that this is Kurdish-grown and no outside influence is shaping it. But the question is being raised repeatedly.
The Kurds have other pressing issues to deal with.
Among them?
Reports that the Islamic State continues to battle in Iraq.
Our gallant #Peshmerga repelled an #ISIS offensive in Makhmour, who left 8 bodies behind.They were morethan 30 #terrorists. Although #Peshmerga are ever prepared to defend Kurdistan, this indicates instability and insecurity in Iraq, despite Iraqi PM’s announcement of ISIS defeat
And there's also the continued threat from the Baghdad-based government of Iraq.
#Kurdistan Region’s Security Council warns of Iraqi military buildup outside of #Erbil city, and around Makhmour.
Iraqi military buildup in and around Makhmour, South West Erbil, has continued for over a week. In this position, armored vehicles and Humvees have been deployed.
As noted above, the Peshmerga is still fighting the Islamic State. That news is troubling -- especially when you factor in Iraq's Prime Minister Hayder al-Abadi's repeated claims of victory over ISIS.
Kamal al-Ayash (NIQASH) reported on the 13th:
Last week the Iraqi government declared victory over the extremist group known as the Islamic State. But, according to locals and military personnel living in the Anbar province, that declaration was premature.
“I have seen no genuine indications that this province is rid of the Islamic State group,” says Ayad al-Nimrawi, a 43-year-old who runs a restaurant in the Kilo area, about 160 kilometres along the road between Baghdad and the Syrian-Jordanian border. “I still see commercial trucks accompanied by security details when they come along here. Even the security forces cannot travel down here alone, they require extra protection.”
“I will only feel that we have won the final victory when I see life returning to this road as it was before the Islamic State came. We used to travel here at night without any fear of armed groups but today this international road is almost completely closed. As soon as dusk falls, this road is a death trap.”
Equally troubling is the victory dance Hayder's been doing when you consider what the so-called victory has cost.
AP reports:
An Associated Press investigation has found that
between 9,000 and 11,000 civilians died in the final battle to drive
Islamic State extremists out of the Iraqi city of Mosul.
That’s a civilian casualty rate nearly 10 times higher than what has been previously reported. The deaths are acknowledged neither by the coalition, the Iraqi government nor the Islamic State group’s self-styled caliphate.
On civilian casualties, Belkas Wille (Human Rights Watch) writes:
In its latest civilian casualty report, the US-led coalition in Iraq said that after reviewing “available information” there was insufficient evidence to find civilians were harmed in an April 2017 airstrike it carried out on the Sakkak neighborhood in Mosul. Yet Human Rights Watch previously documented that the strike killed 13 civilians.
I wondered what the “available information” reviewed had been. I wrote on behalf of Human Rights Watch to the coalition’s media contact, asked the question, and offered to share our information – the contact for an eyewitness to the strike, a man who personally knew the victims, and the names of the 13 civilians who he told us were killed.
A spokesperson emailed back and – without taking up our offer of information – claimed they had considered “all reasonably available evidence.”
The email pointed to abuses by ISIS and “the Russian-backed regime” in Syria, noting that “unlike ISIS, the Coalition works extensively to reduce the risk to civilians on the ground.”
Yes, the coalition is clearly more transparent. But since when is ISIS the standard against which coalition countries measure their actions?
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