Because I'm not in the mood for posting, Bette Davis.
That interview is from November 17, 1971.
If you don't know Bette Davis, she was one of the best film actresses of the 20th century. Must watch films by her?
ALL ABOUT EVE, DARK VICTORY, THE STAR, WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE?, THE LETTER, NOW VOYAGER, DEAD RINGER, ALL THIS AND HEAVEN TOO and OF HUMAN BONDAGE.
Thursday, October 28, 2021. Still waiting on election results . . .
Let's start with this video report from ALJAZEERA.
Iraq voted October 10th. It's October 28th. The final count? Still waiting.
Ooh, I'm waiting Ooh, still waiting I'm just a fool Ooh, I'm a fool I'm just a fool to keep waiting To keep waiting
-- "I'm Still Waiting," written by Deke Richards, recorded by Diana Ross for her EVERYTHING IS EVERYTHING album (and a number one hit in the United Kingdom)
Still
waiting. At this rate, we'll be listening to Diana's long awaited
studio album THANK YOU (drops November 5th) before the final results of
Iraq's election are in.
For any
who've forgotten, Iraq's electoral commission made a point to make a
promise -- one no one was asking for -- that they'd have the votes all
counted and the tallies released . . . October 11th. It's now October
28th. Still waiting.
The recount taking place
right now is focusing on 300 ballot boxes. Should any significant
differences be found, it would trigger a much wider recount.
Still on the elections, BAS NEWS Tweets:
Protests continue in the Iraqi capital to reject the results of the parliamentary election held on October 10, media reports said.
#Iraq | #Baghdad | #IraqElection2021
Iraq’s next elected officials in Nineveh aim to present a unified front
in parliament that represents the Sunni governorate, a member of the
Taqadum Coalition told Rudaw on Tuesday.
“We will try to unify the vision of Nineveh candidates this time so that
we go to the Iraqi parliament as a strong Nineveh parliamentary lobby”
with a single vision, Muzahim al-Khayat said at an interview with
Rudaw’s Bestoon Khalid on the sidelines of the Middle East Research
Institute (MERI) forum in Erbil.
The coalition aspires and seeks to build an “institutional civil administration” in all its sectors in Nineveh, he added.
Iraqis headed to the polls in an early vote on October 10. The election
was held in response to Tishreen (October) 2019 protests complaining of
corruption and ineptitude among the ruling class and political system.
Turnout was a record-low 41 percent, reflecting voter disillusionment
and mistrust in the country’s political system.
Mosul
is the capital of Nineveh. Mosul is among the cities seized by ISIS in
2014. It was occupied by the terrorist organization for years before
they lost their hold on it. ISIS was not, however, vanquished from
Iraq. From yesterday's snapshot:
Starting in Iraq, REUTERS reports,
"Islamic State militants killed 11 people including a woman on Tuesday
in
an attack on a village in Diyala province, east of Iraq, the country's
Joint Operations Command said in a statement." Is it ISIS? It may be.
ISIS has never been vanquished. And the reasons ISIS took root in Iraq
were never addressed. If the issues continue to go unaddressed, ISIS
will actually grow stronger. AFP notes, "The attack on Al-Rashad in Diyala province left "11 dead and 13 wounded", a local security source said." In a Tweet, Barham Salih, president of Iraq, states this was a cowardly attack He calls for stronger borders and backing of the security forces.
Hundreds of villagers have fled their homes in Iraq’s eastern Diyala
province amid rising fears of another violent sectarian conflict
breaking out there following an Islamic State (ISIS) attack earlier this
week.
On Tuesday night, ISIS attacked the al-Rashad village in Sharaban
(Muqdadiya) town in Diyala, killing 15 civilians and wounding many
others.
Al-Rashad’s population is primarily Shiite Muslim. Reports indicated
that local villagers took up arms and attacked the nearby Sunni-majority
village of Nahr al-Imam in retaliation the following day. They
reportedly killed a dozen people and set fire to houses.
The attacks come despite the fact that Iraq has been actively arresting IS leaders over the last few months. The deputy leader of IS, the group's finance chief and many other prominent commanders are among those killed or arrested by the government.
After the Diyala attack, tribal men from the victims' families
attacked the nearby Sunni village of Nahr Al-Imam, accusing them of
betrayal and siding with IS.
According to security officials who spoke to Al-Monitor on condition
of anonymity, approximately 3,000 fighters from the Bani Tamim tribe
(from which the victims hail), supported by Popular Mobilization Units
(PMU), surrounded the village of Nahr Al-Imam from all sides. They also
destroyed and burned villagers' gardens and houses with bulldozers.
Many villagers escaped from the area and called on the government to protect them. Some were able to seek refuge
in the mosques of Baquba, the capital city of Diyala, leaving all their
belongings behind. This could lead the Sunni tribes to retaliate
against Bani Tamim members and eventually to a tribal conflict within
the Diyala province.
The
militias are now part of the government security forces. Were they
acting on the orders of the Baghdad-based government? (No, they
weren't.) When does the punishment come for this action? When does
someone show leadership and not cowardice? The militias never should
have been folded into the security forces. Never. But they were. They
better be broguht to heel or forget a better Iraq.
Clearly,
Mustafa al-Kahdimi can't control them and is too scared to try. (Not
after they circled his home last spring.) He's a coward. And now the
militias openly attack a village and nothing will be done.
Let's note this Tweet:
The US & International community are silent on the ethnic§arian cleansing in Iraq . Bader militias and Iranian backed militias committed crimes against Sunnis in Diayla today.They are desperate after the poor results in the election&creating chaos to justify Hashed presence!
The US & International community are silent on the ethnic§arian cleansing in Iraq . Bader militias and Iranian backed militias committed crimes against Sunnis in Diayla today.They are desperate after the poor results in the election&creating chaos to justify Hashed presence!
Almost all civilians from Alimam village - Muqdadyia, Diayla fled their village to seek refuge in the surrounding villages. They are hosted in mosques and schools etc . Hadi AlAmiri and Qassim AlAaraji visited the aftermath of the attacks but did nothing the stop them.
Terrorist
organizations carry out terror -- hence, the name. The security forces
are not supposed to do the same. A line was long ago crossed and the
world doesn't want to acknowledge it apparently. So the suffering
continues and does so with a global shrug.
US
forces do not need to be on the ground in Iraq supporting a government
who allows its own security forces to terrorize a village.
A homeless Iraq War veteran's service dog was allegedly tased by police
while her owner was being arrested for panhandling, leading to a series
of events that ended in the dog's death.
Gastonia, North Carolina
police officers encountered veteran Joshua Rohrer and his dog Sunshine,
who was trained to help him cope with post-traumatic stress disorder
caused by his time in the Army National Guard, after responding to a
call about alleged panhandling.
Witnesses told WCNC in Charlotte that police officers got violent
with Rohrer shortly after arriving at a median on October 13 where the
veteran and his dog were seated.
“The cop demanded his identification,” stated witness Justyn Huffman.
“He couldn’t move fast enough, so he reached into his pocket for his
ID. He was slammed against the automobile. He was placed in handcuffs.”
Sunshine, according to Huffman and two other witnesses, jumped into
action and bit one of the officer’s boots. Sunshine was allegedly hit
with a stun gun by an officer, leading her to flee with one of the
prongs still attached to her body.
“‘Don’t shoot the dog!’ we’re yelling from the rooftops. ‘Don’t shoot
the dog,’ says the narrator “Huffman stated. “‘My dog! My dog!’
exclaimed [Rohrer]. They dragged him behind the police car and slammed
him down on the pavement.” The 911 call that led to the confrontation
was made public by police. A lady can be heard on the conversation
asking if it’s “legal for an adult to be standing on the junction with a
dog asking for money,” claiming that the scenario is “bullcrap,” and
accusing Rohrer of “using the dog to gain money.” Rohrer, who fought in
Iraq and Kuwait from 2004 to 2005, told Military Times that he was not
panhandling but had accepted money without asking for it. He claimed
that the police confronted him and arrested him “aggressively.”
I'm
confused. Homeless veterans? Barack Obama pledged to end homelessness
among veterans and we have a working press in hte US. Surely, if he
broke that promise, the press would have held him accountable, right?
Tuesday, October 26, 2021. 'Protests could destroy democracy!' is among the insane claims being promoted regarding Iraq today.
Some
are fretting over 'democracy' in Iraq. The obvious point there is that
Iraq hasn't had a democracy. A democracy is not ruled over by prime
ministers who fled Iraq. Cowards who left the country and only came
back after the US invaded in 2003 don't become leader of the country
over and over. They don't represent the country and they're not
courageous people. But since the US-led invasion, every prime minister
has been someone who managed to skip out on Iraq.
Some of the
fretters are writing pieces about how the militias protesting the vote
might destroy democracy. What democracy? More to the point, if it was
in Iraq and it was that fragile, it didn't stand a chance to begin
with. I don't like the militias. That doesn't mean that they do not
have the right to protest. They have every right. And when you deny
them the right to protest, it makes it easier to deny others the right.
The October Revolution.
That's
a real movement. And don't put a period to it because the movement is
ongoing. It replaced a prime minster. Currently, it's forcing a global
press to acknowledge that, gee, golly, things aren't great in Iraq.
This would be the same press that ignores Iraq over and over.
But
the decision of so many in The October Revolution to sit out the vote
-- and to encourage others to as well -- helped lead to a record low
turnout and the world suddenly notices that the Iraqi government hasn't
been serving the Iraqi people.
People in The October
Revolution risked their lives and continue to risk them. They know that
they can be killed or disappeared and that the government will look the
other way and their killers will not face justice. But they continue
to stand up for what they believe in.
And they do so
while the world press yawns and looks away collectively. Their
bravery, their hopes and their plans are ignored unless it's
pre-election and the world press wants to hector them about the
importance of voting.
Protesting isn't going to destroy something that doesn't exist. But protesting could foster a democracy, one unique to Iraq.
There
may at some point be reason to fret. But protests who take a break to
watch a game don't seem as out of control as certain outlets would like
to pretend.
Wladimir Tweets:
Sarhang Hamasaeed, United States Institute of Peace, says the peaceful protest movement in Iraq has caused positive change through early elections, federal court, etc. He also says important for stability to hold provincial elections in the near future #MERIforum
Those
are accomplishments of The October Revolution. But that doesn't mean
that the protests against the vote count (led by the militias) couldn't
have some positive effects as well.
The election was held in response to Tishreen (October) 2019 protests
complaining of corruption and ineptitude among the ruling class and
political system. Turnout was a record-low 41 percent, reflecting voter
disillusionment and mistrust in the country’s political system.
“I believe the main reason behind the early election that was held was
that the political process in Iraq had reached a political blockage,”
said Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) politician Khalid Shwani, noting
that Iraqis had lost trust in the government and in the political
process.
“We saw how the Iraqi citizen and Iraqi voter who went out to the
streets was hopeless completely,” added member of the Kurdistan
Democratic Party (KDP) Jaafar Imniki.
Iraqis commemorated the second anniversary of Tishreen protests on
Monday, almost two weeks after their demand of an early vote was met.
The October protests that shook the country are a “healthy”
demonstration that all Iraqi and Kurdish forces need to be reminded of,
according to Imniki.
The protests were concentrated in Shiite areas of central and southern
Iraq, but Imniki said that every political party and group must listen
to the protesters’ concerns, “because the situation that occurred in
Baghdad and the south could prevail in the Kurdistan Region and in
western Iraq.”
Limited manual recounts are supposed
to conclude tomorrow. This is apparently to much for the fretters.
They're bothered and alarmed -- and alarming. They actually seem to be
trying to invite chaos.
Thus far, the election process
seems faily normal for post-invasion Iraq. That includes Nouri
al-Maliki attempting to return as prime minister. Wladimir Tweets:
The State of Law Coalition, led by Nuri al-Maliki, said on Wednesday that the Kurdish and Sunni blocs would not ally with the Sadrist movement to form the new federal government
It's
amazing how much Nouri is discussed on Arabic social media versus how
little the western press is noting him. King maker? Right now that
would appear to be Nouri. Reality will make it clear shortly as to who
the king maker was. But Nouri's actions are more those of a king maker
than the dithering of Moqtada al-Sadr at this point.
An Australian engineer ensnared in a dispute between the Iraqi
government and his Dubai-based employer is facing five years in jail and
a $US12 million ($AUD16.5 million) fine.
Robert Pether, 46, has been languishing in an Iraqi
prison since April after he and his Egyptian colleague, Khalid Zaghloul,
were arrested in Baghdad, while working for engineering firm CME
Consulting.
Mr Pether's wife Desree said the court decision was a "soul-destroying" travesty of justice.
"It's just absolute hell," Mrs Pether told the ABC from her home in Ireland.
"We honestly thought that justice would prevail after nearly five months and we are so shocked that it didn't happen.
"It
didn't matter what evidence they presented in their defence, which was
scarce because they didn't have access to their laptops or their hard
drives, and the accusations had no backup evidence at all.
In a statement to The National, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said the case should have not been dealt with in a criminal court.
“The
Australian government is concerned by the criminal conviction of Mr
Pether and an Egyptian colleague on fraud charges, their five-year
prison sentence and the joint fine of USD$12 million,” a spokesman said.
“While
the Australian government has shown respect towards Iraq’s judicial
system, we have always expressed the view that commercial disputes
should be conducted between corporate entities rather than individuals,
and that this should be treated as a civil law case, not a criminal law
case.
“The
[Australian] government has consistently advocated for Mr Pether’s
interests and is providing consular assistance to Mr Pether and his
family.”
Australian
citizens are advised not to travel to Iraq over concerns for their
safety due to the the volatile security situation, and very high risk of
violence, armed conflict, kidnapping and terrorist attacks.
Those
who remember the Australian government's public silence -- and
prolonged silence -- while Pether suffered will find some of those
assertions laughable. Ireland's government stood up for Robert and did
so publicly. His own country abandoned him.
Meanwhile NEWS OF THE WORLD reports on a conviction in Germany.
It is completely unsurprising to learn, as Politicoreported last Wednesday, that the major financial supporter
of Facebook "whistleblower” Frances Haugen's sprawling P.R. and legal
network coordinating her public campaign is the billionaire founder of
EBay, Pierre Omidyar. The Haugen Show continues today as a consortium of
carefully cultivated news outlets (including those who have been most devoted to agitating for online censorship: the New York Times’ "tech” unit and NBC News's “disinformation” team) began publishing the trove of archives she took from Facebook under the self-important title "The Facebook Papers,” while the star herself has traveled to London to testify today to British lawmakers considering a bill to criminally punish tech companies that allow “foul content” or “extremism” — whatever that means — to be published.
On Sunday, Haugen toldThe New York Times
that her own personal Bitcoin wealth means she is relying on “help from
nonprofit groups backed by Mr. Omidyar only for travel and similar
expenses.” But the paper also confirmed that the firm masterminding
Haugen's public campaign roll-out and complex media strategy, a group
"founded by the former Barack Obama aide Bill Burton,” is “being paid by
donors, including the nonprofit groups backed by Mr. Omidyar." He is
also a major donor to a shady new group
calling itself “Whistleblower Aid” — bizarrely led by anti-Trump lawyer
and social media #Resistance star Mark Zaid, who has been one of the
most vocal critics of actual whistleblowers Edward Snowden and
Julian Assange, both of whose imprisonment he has long demanded — that
is now featuring Haugen as its star client.
Omidyar's net worth is currently estimated
to be $22 billion, making him the planet's 26th richest human being.
Like so many billionaires who pledge to give away large parts of their
wealth to charity, and who in fact do so, Omidyar's net worth somehow
rapidly grows every year: in 2013, just eight years ago, it was “only” $8 billion: it has almost tripled since then.
Omidyar's
central role in this latest scheme to impose greater control over
social media is unsurprising because he and his multi-national
foundation, the Omidyar Network, fund many if not most of the campaigns
and organizations designed to police and control political speech on the
internet under the benevolent-sounding banner of combating
"disinformation” and “extremism.” Though one could have easily guessed
that it was Omidyar fueling Frances Haugen and her team of Democratic
Party operatives acting as lawyers and P.R. agents — I would have been
shocked if he had no role — it is still nonetheless highly revealing of
what these campaigns and groups are, how they function, what their real
goals are, and the serious dangers they pose.
Any time I speak or
write about Omidyar, the proverbial elephant in the room is my own
extensive involvement with him: specifically, the fact that the
journalistic outlet I co-founded in 2013, and at which I worked for
eight years, was funded almost entirely by him. For purposes of basic
journalistic disclosure, but also to explain how my interaction with him
informs my perspective on these issues, I will describe that experience
and what I learned from it.
When I left the Guardian in 2013 at
the height of the Snowden/NSA reporting to co-found a new media outlet
along with two other journalists, it was Omidyar who funded the project,
which ultimately became The Intercept, along with its parent
corporation, First Look Media. Our unconditional demand when deciding to
accept funding from Omidyar was that he vow never to have any role
whatsoever or attempt to interfere in any way in the editorial content
of our reporting, no matter how much he disagreed with it or how
distasteful he found it. He not only agreed to this condition but
emphasized that he, too, believed the integrity of the new journalism
project depended upon our enjoying full editorial freedom and
independence from his influence.
In the eight years I spent at The Intercept,
Omidyar completely kept his word. There was never a single occasion, at
least to my knowledge, when he attempted to interfere in or override
our journalistic independence. For the first couple of years, adhering
to that promise was easy: he was an ardent supporter of the Snowden
reporting which consumed most of our time and energy back then and,
specifically, viewed a defense of our press freedoms (which were under systemic attack from multiple governments) as a genuine social good. So our journalism and Omidyar's worldview were fully aligned for the first couple of years of The Intercept's existence.
The
arrival of Donald Trump on the political scene in 2015 changed all of
that, and did so quite dramatically. As Trump ascended to the
presidency, Omidyar became monomaniacally obsessed with opposing Trump.
Although Omidyar stopped tweeting in March, 2019 and has since locked his Twitter account,
he spent 2015-2019 as a very active user of the platform. The content
he was posting on Twitter on a daily basis was utterly indistinguishable
from the standard daily hysterical MSNBC panels or New York Times
op-eds, proclaiming Trump a fascist, white nationalist, and existential
threat to democracy, and depicting him as a singular evil, the root of
America's political pathology. In other words, the Trump-centric
worldview that I spent most of my time attacking and mocking on every
platform I had — in speeches, interviews, podcasts, social media and in
countless articles at The Intercept — was the exact political
worldview to which Omidyar had completely devoted himself and was
passionately and vocally advocating.
The radical divergence
between my worldview and Omidyar's did not end there. Like most who
viewed Trump as the primary cause of America's evils rather than just a
symptom of them, Omidyar also became a fanatical Russiagater. A large
portion of his Twitter feed was devoted to the multi-pronged conspiracy
theory that Trump was in bed with and controlled by the Kremlin and that
its president, Vladimir Putin, through his control over Trump and
“interference” in U.S. democracy, represented some sort of grave threat
to all things good and decent in American political life. All of that
happened at exactly the same time that I became one of the media's most
vocal and passionate critics of Russiagate mania, frequently criticizing
and deriding exactly the views that Omidyar was most passionately
expressing on Twitter, often within hours of his posting them.
