Tuesday, May 09, 2017

Even LEAVE IT TO BEAVER got it

Good point.

  2 hours ago
Curious that Dems are so upset over Comey's firing since he's why Hillary lost, right? Or were y'all just blowing hot air this whole time? 😉
48 replies226 retweets462 likes
 
 



I think they've gone so far out on that limb that they have no idea (a) that it's about to crack or (b) how ridiculous they look.

Sometimes though you can paint yourself into a corner.

If that happens, the smart thing is to just own it.

But too often some people struggle with the truth and prefer to lie.

That only makes things worse.

It's like the episode of LEAVE IT TO BEAVER when Wally explains to Beaver that he (Beaver) is too old to just run off and needs to face the music.


"Iraq snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):
Tuesday, May 9, 2017.  Chaos and violence continue, it's day 202 of The Mosul Slog, the western press works overtime to distort reality, and much more.






Birds fly, we turned finally free
Patience lost, I began to lose me
My advice would be take a breath
Close your eyes and take a step
I wasn't scared, I fought this on my own
You pulled me down and I let you go
I told you I would prove you wrong
And now I'm here and I'm standing strong
I know (I know, I know)
I know (I, I know, I know)
I know (I know, I know)
That I ain't got far to go, go, go
'Cause I spent forever waiting
And it's no longer a dream
And now I've landed on my feet
And I ain't got far to go
-- "Ain't Got Far To Go," written by Jess Glynne, nox Brown, Janee Bennett and Find Dow-Smith, first appears on Jess' I CRY WHEN I LAUGH
Hopefully, we don't have far to go.
Hopefully, they're collecting for the gold watch at SLATE and, three years tops, Fred Kaplan will be gone soon.  
No one's done more to pollute the discussion of Iraq than Kappy.
In his latest garbage, he's fretting over US Secretary of Defense James Mattis and the plan.  Kappy's a drama queen.

Mattis’ plan, according to officials who have seen it, is a “whole-of-government effort,” addressing not just the battle in Syria and Iraq but also the need for political stability after ISIS is defeated and a diplomatic settlement, including humanitarian assistance, throughout the entire region.
The absence of a presidential decision on the plan weighs heavily as the combatants slog through the final—in some ways, most brutal—round of fighting in Mosul. Even before Mattis finished his report, Trump loosened controls on U.S. commanders in the field, letting them decide on their own whether to drop bombs on targets in populated areas. The “rules of engagement” weren’t changed, nor did commanders start ignoring the laws of warfare. But whereas President Obama would often rule on whether to bomb or refrain if there was some chance that an airstrike would kill civilians, Trump has let the officer in the field calculate the probabilities and decide whether they’re too high, or low enough, to order an attack.
What will Donald do, Kappy wants to know.
Read in vain for Donald turning control over force numbers on the ground to commanders.
Seems sort of a commander-in-chief decision, unless you're Crappy Kappy.
And is anyone ever going to weigh in on that -- anyone outside of this community?
If only to note that throughout the campaign for president, Donald insisted he was smarter than the generals yet he's now turned over control on force numbers?
Probably not.
Just like Kappy thinks he can toss around "whole-of-government."
If Kappy ever gets that stick out of his ass, maybe he can work on losing tired phrases next?
"Whole-of-government"?
If Trump proposes that, this will be the third administration that has.
It's a cute and meaningless phrase -- but one that feels better on the tongue to War Hawks than their earlier term "holistic approach."
Nothing has changed in the previous two administrations and Kappy's eager to pimp a plan that will continue the same progressing-to-no where approach because that's Kappy.
There are so many lies and distortions in his piece that we should all hope he puts in for early retirement.
Instead of holding the US government accountable -- his job, though he so frequently forgets it -- he tosses out the 'ISIS is responsible for the civilians killed in US bombings' nonsense.
If and when Kappy retires, we'll still be left with the hideous Erika Solomon -- aka Queen of the Dumb F**ks.
 

Washington and its allies are likely to support Iraqi security operations even after Isis is driven out. But that alone will not solve the puzzle of how Nineveh, and perhaps all of Iraq, heals the scars left by the Islamists. If the country cannot foster coexistence, Baghdad’s allies may find it mired in conflict yet again. “Of course this isn’t over . . . it will become sect versus sect, party against party, neighbour versus neighbour,” says one Nineveh council official, who asked not to be named. “The killing is easy, because we have not imposed governance here. There is no order.” Nineveh, Iraq’s second-largest province, is rich in oil and fertile land. But its complex ethnic make-up means conflicts, many of which predate Isis, are hard to resolve and relatively easy to reignite. When, almost a century ago, British officer TE Lawrence made a map exploring colonial partition of the Middle East based on ethnicities, he put two question marks over Nineveh, which seem to linger to this day.
Perhaps all of Iraq?
What a deeply stupid woman.
I cannot believe the lies that are pimped by the press these days -- and I can't believe that I can't believe it.
The Iraq War was the war the western press wanted and sold.
And they've done it ever since.
They lie, they spin and mainly they whore.
And, honestly, f**k TE Lawrence and the British self-obsession with Lawrence.
The Islamist scars?
Try the scars Britain's long imposed.
And the Islamic State did not arise from thin air.
It is the result of the sectarian scars which were encouraged by the United Kingdom and the United States in the current go-round.
Bringing up Lawrence is an effort by anti-Arabists to pimp the lie that 'those people' just can't find peace because of 'what' they are.  
No, the reason Iraq is in turmoil is because it's been the focus of repeated western wars.
The current turmoil has everything to do with the installing of exiles.
In what world does anyone want to be ruled by cowards who fled their country (and then agitated for England and the US to invade the country)?
And the cowards returned to Iraq with chips on their shoulders and hatred in their hearts.
A future for the country?
No, they could only see evening old scores.
As Edith Ann once rightly observed, to get back is to go back.
And that's all the exiles can do, settle old scores, not move the country forward.
And this failure takes place despite promises and legal contracts.
But Erika Solomon can never tell you about that.
She's too busy pimping 'those people' to get honest.
We've spent the last years talking about this issue -- what happens next.
Erika's suddenly 'interested' because she thinks The Mosul Slog is nearing an end.
Maybe it is?
In the meantime, it's day 202.
Iraqi forces storm the 17th Tamouz (July) neighbourhood in western .
2 retweets1 like
 
 
 
Joint Operations officially announce the North Industrial district NW completely liberated by Counter Terrorism units
 
1 reply20 retweets42 likes
 
 
Again, day 202.
And the Islamic State isn't just in Mosul.
Dozens of army soldiery fleeing their positions as attacked them on Haditha-Baiji road via
1 reply12 retweets7 likes
 
 
In Baghdad?
Seven anti-corruption activists kidnapped in Baghdad Armed men have kidnapped seven young Iraqi anti-corruption activists in central Baghd…
 
 
The Islamic State isn't the only actor in Iraq.
That may or may not be their actions.
More than likely, it's the act of a Shi'ite militia connected to some politician who has a great deal to fear from corruption investigations.
Former prime minister -- and forever thug -- Nouri al-Maliki, for example, is the poster child of corruption on social media but, remember, the Iraqi people have always taken the corruption more seriously than the government that supposedly represents them.
The following community sites updated:


  • Ann's Mega Dub
    Blood soaks his legacy
    10 hours ago
  • Like Maria Said Paz
    Hillary is never the answer
    10 hours ago
  • Mikey Likes It!
    We could have had President Bernie
    10 hours ago
  • The Pacifica Evening News
    Trump's Travel Ban Argued in Virginia Federal Appeals Court
    11 hours ago
  • Trina's Kitchen
    Colbert has nothing to offer
    11 hours ago

  • SICKOFITRADLZ
    The Originals -- the kiss
    11 hours ago 

    • Ruth's Report
    How we all suffer due to the cry babies
    13 hours ago 

    Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude
    keith was always the worst face for us
    19 hours ago 










    iraq



    Posted by at

    Monday, May 08, 2017

    Hillary is never the answer

    Clio Chang (NEW REPUBLIC) offers a take on Hillary Clinton's super-pac:


    But the worst case would be if Clinton raised money only to spend it propping up loyalists, hindering more progressive candidates and causes, and giving a distinctly Clintonian shape to an organic grassroots movement that has so far operated outside the Democratic Party’s control. What’s worrisome is that this is not a far-fetched scenario. Clinton notoriously prizes loyalty above all else, to the point that she often seems incapable of taking even well-meaning advice from those outside her inner circle. She has also consistently misread the mood of the country and her own party, which has been in evidence ever since she re-entered the national spotlight earlier this month.
    In her interview last Tuesday with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, the first lengthy debrief she has given since the election, Clinton gave little indication that her loss to Trump has caused her to rethink her approach to politics. When asked what she could have been done differently, she failed to point to any specific problems with her own campaign strategy (like ghosting on Michigan) or the fact that she ran as an establishment candidate in an anti-establishment year. Instead Clinton pointed to the Comey letter, Russia, and WikiLeaks.



    Why in the world would we trust Hillary with money?

    Why in the world would we donate to her instead of to someone we knew would use the money to help the grassroots?

    Hillary is not the answer.

    Hillary is never the answer.


    "Iraq snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):
    Monday, May 8, 2017.  Chaos and violence continue, The Mosul Slog continues, the war on open discourse continues, and much more.



    Illegal wars need lies.  You have to sell the people lies.  We saw it with Iraq, we will see it again.

    Which is why the public square is so important.

    We need free debate, open discourse.

    Justin Raimondo (ANTIWAR.COM) has had his Tweets censored over the weekend by Twitter.  (In the past, he's also been censored on Google results for questionable reasons.)  He writes about that and about a movement to censor the internet in his column that went up this morning:
    Data for Democracy bemoans the fact that Le Pen accused Macron of having a secret tax haven, and that
    “Macron has had to answer for this claim in interviews, much like Barack Obama had to answer questions about his birth certificate and Hillary Clinton about her email server.”
    So the tax haven accusation is the equivalent of birtherism, and so is the known fact that Mrs. Clinton had a private email server while Secretary of State, a violation of the law and a security problem.
    Of course, none of this would amount to anything other than partisan boilerplate until we get to the real aims of these “Data for Democracy” “researchers”:
    “So what do we do? … demand that  the platforms who enable the spread of disinformation and hate online be held accountable.
    “The web is ours. Democracy is ours. It’s time we took them both back.”
    “The webs is ours” – but what exactly does this mean? You have to follow the link to find out what “taking it back” means, and it isn’t pretty.
    The link takes you to a piece by University of Maryland instructor Kris Shaffer, who writes:
    “Imagine a world where hate sites couldn’t do any of these things…
    • embed content from YouTube, Facebook, or Twitter
    • violate mainstream media outlets’ copyright privileges without legal action
    • make money off of ads from Google, Facebook, or other mainstream companies
    • list podcasts in the iTunes database
    • post content to social media
    • have site content appear on Facebook or Twitter via their Open Graph/Twitter Cards services (with pictures, highlighted headlines, etc., all of which boost traffic) … or even at all
    • appear in Google search results.”

    That is, imagine a world run by “Data for Democracy” and other illiberal liberals, who get to censor any site they deem a “hate site.” Imagine a world where the Internet is no longer free, where government and corporate power combine to determine what you may see, and how you may see it. Imagine a censored Internet.


    We don't need a censored internet.

    If you don't want to see it, don't visit it.

    I find Debra Messing's Tweets appalling for their ignorance but she has every right to post anything she wants.  And some people support and identify what she Tweets.  That's great.  She's found her crowd.

    Whether it's Debra Messing or some (other?) neocon, the answer is not to censor them but to combat them with alternate speech.

    Around the world, the people have given up so much and had even more stolen.  The last thing we need now is a censored internet.

    Justin's column is very important.


    Day 201 of The Mosul Slog.



      18 minutes ago
    Counter Terrorism Units are Rapidly advancing in Wasi Akab industrial district west .

    6 retweets4 likes






    In June of 2014, the Islamic State seized control of Mosul.

    In the fall of 2014, Hayder al-Abadi was installed as prime minister of Iraq.


    It would be over two years later before any attempt to liberate or 'liberate' Mosul began.

    It was October 2016 when the operation finally began, 201 days ago.

    We can count the days but we can't count the civilians killed because there's no honest count.

    There are undercounts, like those offered by the US government.

    But there are no honest counts.

    In part, because of the lack of real reporters present.

    Embeds aren't real reporters.

    They are about as independent as Patty Hearst was when held by the Symbionese Liberation Army.

     Like Patty when she was held hostage, they are at the mercy of whomever they are embedded with.

    Similar psychological bonding takes place.

    So we get nonsense like this from REUTERS:



    "We automatically knew what they were trying to do. They were trying to bait us into destroying this building," said U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel James Browning. "This is the game that we play, this is the challenge that we go through every day."
    The challenge is only increasing as U.S.-backed Iraqi forces squeeze the militants into a smaller and smaller area of Mosul, where they are now trapped along with several hundred thousand civilians.
    "There is nowhere to go.... the battlefield is much more complicated with the amount of civilians that are moving," Browning said.

    The risks are high: more than 100 civilians were accidentally killed in a single airstrike by the U.S.-led coalition in March.


    I'm sorry, where's the REUTERS report quoting civilians?

    Representing their point of view?

    Instead, the public is fed garbage like "the battlefield is much more complicated."

    No where is it noted that the Iraqi civilians were ordered not to leave.


    Over the weekend, Supriya Sharma (SCROLL.IN) observed:



     The US-led international coalition conducts strikes “coordinated with and in support of the government of Iraq using attack, bomber, fighter, and remotely piloted aircraft as well as rocket artillery against ISIL targets”. It claims to take “extraordinary efforts to strike military targets in a manner that minimizes the risk of civilian casualties, [but] in some incidents casualties are unavoidable”.
    Its daily reports have references to “ISIL-held buildings”. For instance, its report for January 5 said:
    Near Mosul, three strikes engaged two ISIL tactical units; destroyed three ISIL-held buildings, three supply caches, two mortar systems, a fighting position, and a VBIED; damaged 24 supply routes; and suppressed two mortar teams.
    For January 10, it reported:
    Near Mosul, three strikes engaged three ISIL tactical units; destroyed four fighting positions, two vehicles, an ISIL-held building, and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher; and damaged 39 supply routes, three tunnels, and a front-end loader.
    Houses are also buildings.
    The coalition’s civilian casualty reports have so far not accounted for the deaths in Khalil’s and Hafidh’s houses.
    An airstrike on a house in Al-Jadeda neighbourhood on March 17 killed more than 100 civilians. One of the two survivors has contested the army’s claims that ISIS fighters had taken position on the roof.
    Airstrikes have killed 1,254 people in western Mosul in March and April alone, according to Iraq Body Count, an independent group that monitors civilian casualties. The coalition has acknowledged just 44 civilian deaths in airstrikes in the city since November.
    Both Khalil’s and Hafidh’s families feel a sense of utter disbelief that their homes were targetted, despite the Iraqi forces knowing that civilians were inside.
    Nawal said her family had been waiting for the Iraqi army. “We thought they would come and we would collaborate with them by giving them information about the location of ISIS. We didn’t realise we would be bombed.” Not only is her brother Mosab dead, her younger sister Baraa’ has lost her vision in the right eye.



    Meanwhile, a meet-up is on the horizon.


      18 minutes ago
    A very important meeting between PM , Amar Al-Hakim & Muqatda Al-Sadr is going to be held in in a few minutes.
    2 retweets1 like





    As for The Mosul Slog, not much has changed.


    2.   18 hours ago
    map update. Green= completely liberated. Orange= frontline clashes. White= control.
    2 replies27 retweets48 likes









    The US Defense Dept Tweeted the following.






      10 hours ago
    and on Camp Manion at Al Taqaddum Air Base, , remember 1st Lt. Travis L. Manion’s legacy.
    If Not Me, Then Who
    Marines and soldiers on Camp Manion, Al Taqaddum Air Base, Iraq, remember 1st Lt. Travis L. Manion’s legacy. Manion was killed April 29, 2007, while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar Province.
    29 replies203 retweets576 likes









    Kat's "Kat's Korner: Aimee Mann answers why" went up last night.









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