That's Sam Smith performing "Fix You" live. "Fix You," if you didn't already know, is a Coldplay song. Here are the notes:
So I'm guessing this song will be on the next album. I hope that's coming soon.
"Iraq snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):
Monday, July 6, 2020. We look at the various people vying to become
president of the US, the prime minister of Iraq suffers a setback in the
Parliament, Iraqi journalists are not being fair in their coverage of
Iraq's LGBTQ community, and much more.
Starting in the US where presidential candidate Gloria La Riva's campaign has issued the following:
In an exciting development for the Party for Socialism and
Liberation, on July 2 the PSL was officially designated by the New
Mexico Secretary of State as a qualified political party in the state of
New Mexico. This despite the onerous requirement of signature
gathering, made even tougher in time of the pandemic.
Now, when New Mexicans register to vote or update their registration, they can make their party affiliation the Party for Socialism and Liberation. Also, when they go to the polls in November, New Mexicans will be able to vote for a grassroots socialist presidential campaign!
Karina Aracely, New Mexico PSL organizer, stated, “Soon, the Statewide Convention of the PSL-NM will be held. There, delegates of the party will officially nominate our 2020 socialist candidates for the November 3 presidential election: the national candidates of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, Gloria La Riva for president and her running mate, Native activist and political prisoner Leonard Peltier. Our campaign is raising Leonard Peltier's freedom struggle and in support of his longtime defense efforts. In reality, he should have never spent one day of his 44 years in prison.
“We are excited about the opportunity to talk with people throughout New Mexico, of an alternative not only for the election, but the urgent need for the system we are fighting for, socialism, which puts the people first, not profits.”
In addition to being the PSL candidates in several states, La Riva and Peltier will be the 2020 candidates for the Peace and Freedom Party of California, and the Liberty Union Party of Vermont.
The U.S. electoral system is rigged to give only the two ruling-class parties a competitive chance to win. Third-party candidates are subject to exclusionary and expanding obstacles in every state. For more than two years, the Democrat and Republican candidates have had non-stop media coverage, while the people only get realistic exposure to third-party candidates at their polling place, due to strict media censorship.
Still, the PSL nationally is running an energetic campaign to put forth our 10-point program, while also marching in the streets against racism and police brutality, holding car caravans to Cancel the Rents and more.
In New Mexico, candidates of the “major” Democratic and Republican political parties get to appear on the ballot automatically, no petition signatures required.
On the other hand, in order to qualify as a “minor” party, the PSL was required to collect 3,483 valid petition signatures from registered voters. In reality, the number needed is much higher.
Any signature where the voter’s name doesn’t match the address on file with the SOS is struck. That kind of error occurs when people move around a lot and lose track of the address they used to register. In states with widespread poverty like New Mexico, people are constantly on the move because even the smallest fluctuation in household income can turn into an eviction.
When this is accounted for, the real number of signatures needed to be safe is closer to twice the required amount: 6,966. The task is all the more daunting because low population density makes it hard to find large concentrations of people, and the places where people do assemble are often privately owned and petitioning forbidden.
The window to collect signatures was supposed to last from March 1 to June 25, just shy of four months.
PSL petitioners hit the streets on March 4. In just 11 days of petitioning, PSL members collected 4,553 signatures, an amazing feat powered exclusively by an all-volunteer apparatus!
Unfortunately, we had to completely shut down petitioning for more than three months, due to the necessary COVID-19 “stay-at-home” instruction, which our campaign strictly observed. Only after the state had announced a broader reopening mid-June did our campaign leap back into action, carrying out five more days of last-minute petitioning, from June 20 to 24.
Although the formal petitioning window lasts 117 days, in reality, the PSL only had 17 days total to ask the public to support our right to appear on the New Mexico ballot.
But in only 17 days of petitioning, our members and friends collected over 6,000 signatures! This not only speaks to the sheer determination and will power of PSL members and friends, but also to the widespread grassroots interest here in New Mexico for an alternative to the two capitalist parties.
Vote Socialist, Become a Socialist!
Free Leonard Peltier Now!
Now, when New Mexicans register to vote or update their registration, they can make their party affiliation the Party for Socialism and Liberation. Also, when they go to the polls in November, New Mexicans will be able to vote for a grassroots socialist presidential campaign!
Karina Aracely, New Mexico PSL organizer, stated, “Soon, the Statewide Convention of the PSL-NM will be held. There, delegates of the party will officially nominate our 2020 socialist candidates for the November 3 presidential election: the national candidates of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, Gloria La Riva for president and her running mate, Native activist and political prisoner Leonard Peltier. Our campaign is raising Leonard Peltier's freedom struggle and in support of his longtime defense efforts. In reality, he should have never spent one day of his 44 years in prison.
“We are excited about the opportunity to talk with people throughout New Mexico, of an alternative not only for the election, but the urgent need for the system we are fighting for, socialism, which puts the people first, not profits.”
In addition to being the PSL candidates in several states, La Riva and Peltier will be the 2020 candidates for the Peace and Freedom Party of California, and the Liberty Union Party of Vermont.
The U.S. electoral system is rigged to give only the two ruling-class parties a competitive chance to win. Third-party candidates are subject to exclusionary and expanding obstacles in every state. For more than two years, the Democrat and Republican candidates have had non-stop media coverage, while the people only get realistic exposure to third-party candidates at their polling place, due to strict media censorship.
Still, the PSL nationally is running an energetic campaign to put forth our 10-point program, while also marching in the streets against racism and police brutality, holding car caravans to Cancel the Rents and more.
In New Mexico, candidates of the “major” Democratic and Republican political parties get to appear on the ballot automatically, no petition signatures required.
On the other hand, in order to qualify as a “minor” party, the PSL was required to collect 3,483 valid petition signatures from registered voters. In reality, the number needed is much higher.
Any signature where the voter’s name doesn’t match the address on file with the SOS is struck. That kind of error occurs when people move around a lot and lose track of the address they used to register. In states with widespread poverty like New Mexico, people are constantly on the move because even the smallest fluctuation in household income can turn into an eviction.
When this is accounted for, the real number of signatures needed to be safe is closer to twice the required amount: 6,966. The task is all the more daunting because low population density makes it hard to find large concentrations of people, and the places where people do assemble are often privately owned and petitioning forbidden.
The window to collect signatures was supposed to last from March 1 to June 25, just shy of four months.
PSL petitioners hit the streets on March 4. In just 11 days of petitioning, PSL members collected 4,553 signatures, an amazing feat powered exclusively by an all-volunteer apparatus!
Unfortunately, we had to completely shut down petitioning for more than three months, due to the necessary COVID-19 “stay-at-home” instruction, which our campaign strictly observed. Only after the state had announced a broader reopening mid-June did our campaign leap back into action, carrying out five more days of last-minute petitioning, from June 20 to 24.
Although the formal petitioning window lasts 117 days, in reality, the PSL only had 17 days total to ask the public to support our right to appear on the New Mexico ballot.
But in only 17 days of petitioning, our members and friends collected over 6,000 signatures! This not only speaks to the sheer determination and will power of PSL members and friends, but also to the widespread grassroots interest here in New Mexico for an alternative to the two capitalist parties.
Vote Socialist, Become a Socialist!
Free Leonard Peltier Now!
That ballot access has
to be fought for goes to how far from a true democracy this country
remains. Another candidate for president is the Democratic Party's Joe
Biden. After 89 days of no press conferences, Biden finally came out of
hiding last week. Debra Saunders (REVIEW JOURNAL) grades the press conference:
The exercise didn’t exactly make my
profession seem fair or remotely interested in any story that does not
confirm the pack’s biases.
Last
month saw the release of a handwritten note by fired FBI Special Agent
Peter Strzok on a Jan. 5, 2017 meeting between President Barack Obama,
Biden, then-FBI Director James Comey and others about an FBI probe into
possible collusion between Moscow the 2016 Trump campaign.
According
to the note, Biden suggested that Justice Department officials might
investigate Mike Flynn, Trump’s designated national security adviser,
for allegedly violating the Logan Act — a little-known 1799 law that
bans unauthorized Americans from talking to foreign adversaries and
never has been used successfully to prosecute anyone — during Flynn’s
talks with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.
Flynn supporters see the note as proof that Obama and Biden actively pushed for the probe.
And Biden seems evasive when he talks about the matter.
In
May, the former vice president told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that he
knew “nothing about these moves to investigate Michael Flynn.” When
Stephanopoulos reminded Biden that he had sat in on the Jan. 5 meeting
on Flynn, Biden responded that he thought Stephanopoulos, “asked me
whether or not I had anything to do with him being prosecuted,” which
doesn’t quite make sense. Biden then said, “I was aware that they asked
about an investigation.”
So
did any of the reporters in Tuesday’s press briefing ask Biden if he
recommended that federal investigators look into whether Flynn violated
the Logan Act? No, they were too busy asking questions on the same topic
without getting a good answer.
Joe's got more problems. Avril Haines is part of his team. Spencer Ackerman (DAILY BEAST) notes:
In late June, the Biden campaign announced that Haines, an
attorney who served as deputy director of the CIA from 2013 to 2015,
will helm the foreign policy and national security aspects of a
potential Biden transition team.
To activists, security experts, congressional aides who
are more left than liberal—as well as mainstream human rights
campaigners and at least one ex-senator—Haines’ elevation is worrisome
or unacceptable. She approved an “accountability board” that spared CIA
personnel reprisal for spying on the Senate’s torture investigators, and
was part of the team that redacted their landmark report. After the
administration ended, Haines supported Gina Haspel for CIA director,
someone directly implicated in CIA torture,
a decision that remains raw amongst progressive activists. Until late
June, she consulted for the Trump-favorite data firm Palantir, which emerged from the CIA.
In
other campaign news, THE VANGUARD argues that leftists should vote for
Howie Hawkins (Green Party) and conservatives should vote for Jo
Jorgensen (Libertarian Party).
The Green Party is holding it's national convention from July 9th to July 12th -- click here for details.
Ahead of the convention, where Howie seems a shoe-in for the
nomination, George Galloway has come out to endorse Jesse Ventura.
Ventura
is a former professional wrestler and a former governor of Minnesota as
well as a former Mayor (Brooklyn Park). He has said he will not seek
the nomination but he would accept it if he was offered it.
Another presidential candidate is Joseph Kishore who is running on the SEP ticket.
Would any of them have the guts to end the Iraq War if elected president? To bring US troops home from Iraq? From Afghanistan?
Iraq remains a troubled state -- a failed state, in fact. Saturday's "Did Mustafa al-Kadhimi just buy himself a little more time?"
noted that Iraq's prime minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi finally found it in
him to call out Turkey for bombing Iraq and sending Turkish forces into
Iraq on the ground. Zhelwan Z. Wali (RUDAW) reports:
The spokesperson for Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi condemned
Ankara for its ongoing military operation across the north of the
country in a strongly worded statement released Saturday evening.
"We strongly reject and condemn these actions that harm the close, long-standing relations between the two friendly nations," Ahmed Mulla Talal wrote in a statement published to Telegram, urging for an "immediate" halt to Ankara's offensive.
"We strongly reject and condemn these actions that harm the close, long-standing relations between the two friendly nations," Ahmed Mulla Talal wrote in a statement published to Telegram, urging for an "immediate" halt to Ankara's offensive.
Turkish forces continue to set up base camps in Iraq. ARAB WEEKLY notes:
Iraqi troops are enforcing positions along the border with Turkey to
prevent Turkish forces from advancing deeper into Iraqi territory, Iraqi
security officials said Friday.
The move comes after two weeks of airstrikes as Ankara continues to target Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq.
The officials said Ankara has established at least a dozen posts inside Iraqi territory as part of a military campaign to rout members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) who Turkey says have safe havens in northern Iraq.
The airborne-and-land campaign, dubbed “Operation Claw-Tiger,” began June 17 when Turkey airlifted troops into northern Iraq.
Since then, at least six Iraqi civilians have been killed as Turkish jets pound PKK targets, and several villages in Iraq’s northern Kurdish region have been evacuated.
The move comes after two weeks of airstrikes as Ankara continues to target Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq.
The officials said Ankara has established at least a dozen posts inside Iraqi territory as part of a military campaign to rout members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) who Turkey says have safe havens in northern Iraq.
The airborne-and-land campaign, dubbed “Operation Claw-Tiger,” began June 17 when Turkey airlifted troops into northern Iraq.
Since then, at least six Iraqi civilians have been killed as Turkish jets pound PKK targets, and several villages in Iraq’s northern Kurdish region have been evacuated.
Will it be enough? And
will it be enough to shore up Mustafa's reputation? Tomorrow, he will
have been prime minister for two months. He is largely seen as weak and
indecisive. Can he turn that around?
He's now facing a rejection in Parliament. MEMO reports:
The Iraqi
Salvation and Development Front led by former Parliament Speaker Osama
Nujaifi on Saturday rejected Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kadhimi’s
decision to assign Shia figures to top security positions, Anadolu reported.
Al-Kadhimi
had appointed a member of the pro-Iran Badr Shia Organisation, Qasim
Al-Araji, as national security adviser and Major General Abdul Ghani
Al-Asadi, the former head of the counter-terrorism agency, as head of
the National Security Agency,
The
Iraqi Salvation and Development Front said in a statement that while
the government is reshuffling security positions and some independent
bodies as part of its reform program, “we would like to remind the prime
minister of the issue of national balance and the necessity for real
participation of the nation’s partners in decision-making and the
management of sensitive institutions”.
In other news, Yasmine Mosimann (RUDAW) reports:
Iraqi media outlets are failing to meet basic journalistic standards
when it comes to coverage of LGBT+ people, according to a new study by
Iraq's first national LGBT+ organisation.
“Though Iraqi media outlets have started covering LGBT+ issues in the last 10 years, they are not yet using their platforms to meet these responsibilities. Just the opposite,” reads the report published by IraQueer at the end of June.
“The majority of media coverage today is biased against the LGBT+ community, reinforcing discriminatory ideas that LGBT+ individuals are alien to Iraqi society, and that LGBT+ identities are ailments that must be treated and eradicated,” adds the report, which references special effects such as dangerous sounding music being overlaid on most television programming about LGBT+ people.
The search results from IraQueer’s research reveals that most Iraqi media continues to use derogatory terms to refer to people of diverse genders and sexualities or their actions, including but not limited to the Arabic words for “abnormal”, “shemale”. The organization did observe a slower positive trend of the more neutral “Mujtamaa Al-Meem”, which translates to the LGBT+ community, starting to be used.
“Though Iraqi media outlets have started covering LGBT+ issues in the last 10 years, they are not yet using their platforms to meet these responsibilities. Just the opposite,” reads the report published by IraQueer at the end of June.
“The majority of media coverage today is biased against the LGBT+ community, reinforcing discriminatory ideas that LGBT+ individuals are alien to Iraqi society, and that LGBT+ identities are ailments that must be treated and eradicated,” adds the report, which references special effects such as dangerous sounding music being overlaid on most television programming about LGBT+ people.
The search results from IraQueer’s research reveals that most Iraqi media continues to use derogatory terms to refer to people of diverse genders and sexualities or their actions, including but not limited to the Arabic words for “abnormal”, “shemale”. The organization did observe a slower positive trend of the more neutral “Mujtamaa Al-Meem”, which translates to the LGBT+ community, starting to be used.
We'll close with this video.