Like Maria Said Paz: 2023-08-06

Thursday, August 10, 2023

Marjorie Taylor Greene and Robert Junior

It's a rare day that psychotic Marjorie Taylor Greene doesn't make the news. In fairness, I should note that Tara Reade supports MTG. Nut jobs often relate to one another. Tara, of course, is the portly woman who abandoned her animals in this country to defect to Russia. James Bickerton (NEWSWEEK) reports:

Marjorie Taylor Greene sparked outrage on Tuesday after responding to a member of the public who demanded the death penalty for "treason" by laughing and saying the meeting was ending "on the right note."

The House Republican made the remark on Tuesday during a question and answer session held at Gordon County Town Hall, in her Georgia constituency.

Greene has emerged as one of the most outspoken Donald Trump supporters within the Republican party since her election in 2020, though she was recently expelled from the conservative House Freedom Caucus after clashing with a number of its members.

During the congresswoman's Gordon County event, one audience member said: "Treason has been released and nobody is prepared to answer for it. Something has got to be done. It's treason. Our country, our Constitution has been stomped on repeatedly... People have got to be tried for treason."

You know she's not functioning, right? We can all see that, right? There needs to be a process to remove people like that from Congress. It shouldn't be partisan. But people like that are a danger to themselves and others. We've got another whack-job in politics, he's seeking the Democratic Party's presidential nomination:

Take, for example, recent comments by long-shot Democratic candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who claimed the U.S. was collecting Russian and Chinese DNA “so we can target people by race” with “ethnic bioweapons.” He said that Covid-19 had been designed to target Caucasians and Black people and that the people who are “most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people.”

Kennedy’s comments were widely criticized as racist and antisemitic in the U.S., including by his fellow Democrats. Scientists dismissed his claims about bioweapons, saying that human genetic variations exist along a continuum and no hard line can be drawn to distinguish one ethnic or population group from another based on DNA.

His comments about bioweapons found a big audience in China, where they were fanned by media outlets backed by the Communist Party.

The Communist Youth League jumped on the remarks, posting video of Kennedy speaking on the popular Weibo social-media platform. It was quickly amplified by the accounts of several party-linked media outlets, using the hashtag “#U.S. Presidential Candidate Says U.S. Is Collecting Chinese DNA.”

In the weeks since Kennedy made the remarks, the hashtag has attracted 230 million views. On the WeChat microblogging platform, a video of Kennedy’s remarks posted on an account affiliated with China’s National Defense News was shared more than 100,000 times. The same day Kennedy testified before Congress last month, he rose to the No. 2 trending topic on Weibo.

Neither the Youth League nor any of the other party-linked social-media accounts that repeated Kennedy’s bioweapon comments offered context from scientists or seriously challenged his assertions.

It's not enough that Junior dumbs down some Americans, he's now attempting to dumb down the whole world.

""Iraq snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):

Thursday, August 10, 2023. Climate change in Iraq has not been "a wake up call," a gay activist (man, of course) joins the right-wing in attacking marriage equality and doesn't get called out, Iraq bans the term "homosexual" and insists instead upon "sexual deviance" -- how far away is that from the US when you've got idiot activist attacking marriage equality? That and more.

AFP insists "Iraq's rising temperatures a 'wake-up call' for world." Really? Because it's not been a wake up call for Iraq. Their government officials -- corrupt and apparently stupid -- have done nothing of value to address it or to prepare for it and, in fact, plan to continue in the next few years with more actions that will only make things for the Iraqi people and, yes, for the world.

From the article:

Iraq's rising temperatures and protracted drought are a "wake-up call" for the world, United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk has said in Baghdad.

Turk spoke to AFP news agency during a visit to Iraq on Wednesday, which the UN says is one of the five countries in the world most touched by some effects of the climate crisis.

Iraq has been experiencing its fourth consecutive summer of drought, and temperatures in parts of the country, including the capital Baghdad, and in the far south, have been around 50 degrees Celsius.

"Rising temperatures plus the drought, and the fact that the loss of diversity is a reality, is a wake-up call for Iraq and for the world," Turk said.

Again, it's a wake up call that's being ignored. When it's all too late, what happens? Do the Iraqi people confront a fraud like Moqtada al-Sadr in the public square and rip him limb from limb for all the garbage he's pulled, for all the times he's refused to use his power to improve their lives, for the way he's condemned Iraq to be a living hell? A lot of people are going to have to answer because they are refusing to address reality and, every day, it's a little bit more too late.

Qassim Abdul-Zahra (AP) notes, "The United Nations' human rights chief on Wednesday warned that Iraq's water crisis could affect other countries in the region. Severe water shortages in Iraq because of climate change and government mismanagement have destroyed wheat and fruit harvests, and killed off fish and livestock. Humanitarian organizations have warned for years that drought and mismanagement could deprive millions of people of water from the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers, which also run through neighboring war-torn Syria."

Before leaving Iraq, the UN notes, Volker Turk delivered the following speech:

Thank you all for coming. I have just concluded the first-ever visit by a UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to Iraq. I thank the Government of Iraq very much for its invitation, and for the extensive discussions we have had at the highest levels during my time here. I feel a deep personal connection with the people of this country, and I come here as a friend.

I spent the past four days in Baghdad, Erbil and Basra, meeting the Prime Minister of Iraq, the President and Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and other high-level officials, including the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Justice, as well as the Speaker of Parliament, the Chief Judge of the High Judicial Council, and the Chief Judge of the Appeals Court in Basra.

I also had several meetings with civil society, including women human rights defenders, environmental activists, journalists, lawyers, artists, members of the Marsh Arab (Ma’dan) community, as well as representatives from the diverse and rich cultural and religious fabric of Iraq.

And I experienced first-hand the reality of climate change in the Al-Salhiyah area of Basra’s Shatt Al-Arab district, in southern Iraq.

In 50-degree-Celsius heat, in the midst of drought-ridden and barren fields, local community leaders and representatives showed me pictures of the lush date palm trees that – just 30 years ago – lined parts of the now dried-up Shatt-al-Arab waterway.

Standing in searing heat in that scarred landscape, breathing air polluted by the many gas flares dotting the region, it was clear to me that the era of global boiling has indeed begun.

This is a climate emergency. And it is high time it is treated like one. Not just for Iraq but for the world. What is happening here is a window into a future that is now coming for other parts of the world – if we continue to fail in our responsibility to take preventive and mitigating action against climate change.

Iraq is among the most climate-vulnerable countries in the world. The serious environmental degradation here is the result of a toxic mix of violence, oil industry excesses, global warming, reduced rainfall, and lack of effective water management and regulation.

Just yesterday the Minister of Water Resources announced that water levels in Iraq are the lowest they have ever been. The water issue has wider regional implications, and all countries have to work to manage this precious resource as a public good. Water is a global public good.

Civil society actors spoke to me about the chronic pollution in Basra and the resulting health problems in the community, including high rates of cancer and other serious ailments. They also stressed the need for increased transparency. “People have the right to know what is going on, about the dangers to their health and environment, and to help with strategies to work together to mitigate and adapt to the impact of climate change,” as one rights defender said to me.

I welcome the Government’s public commitment to address, as a priority, the challenges of climate change and water scarcity. Much work lies ahead – in awareness raising, legislative and policy reform and capacity building of institutions. It is essential that this is done with the meaningful involvement of those most affected.

But I am concerned that a series of actions taken by people in positions of power – for example, bringing criminal defamation suits against journalists and civil society actors – have created a chilling effect on freedom of expression. There have also been reports of violence, intimidation and death threats against environmental activists, including by armed elements, stifling the open space for discussion that is so crucial to addressing these issues.

One activist pleaded for the protection of rights defenders, saying: “It should not be dangerous to share data and raise awareness of the problem. We need to work together to mitigate the impact – lives are at risk.”

This is an issue we have been working closely on, and we are planning a report on freedom of expression in Iraq.

Iraq has historically contributed so much – cultural, literary, intellectual, civilizational – to shaping our world today. It is a mesmerizing history, breathtaking in its beauty and diversity.

But as we know all too well, Iraq also has a more recent history of repression, injustice, conflict, trauma and some of the worst violations of human rights and dignity to which the world has borne witness. I can only but admire the incredible resilience of the people of Iraq who have lived such realities within their lifetimes.

Estimates suggest that up to a million people disappeared under the regime of Saddam Hussein and hundreds of thousands more since then, including between 2014 and 2017 when Da’esh took control of vast swathes of Iraqi territory, and in subsequent security operations. Such staggering figures are difficult to fathom. Behind each of these individuals is a family – a spouse, a child, a parent, loved ones who deserve recognition, and whose rights to truth, justice and accountability are violated.

I welcome the Government’s invitation to the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances, which visited Iraq last year. I urge implementation of the Committee’s recommendations. I understand that a law on enforced disappearances is due to come before the Council of Representatives – a welcome step in the right direction. It is high time a law is passed, in line with international human rights standards. My Office will follow closely the consideration and passage of this law and is ready to advise and support, based on our experience in other countries grappling with this issue.

There is also a painful history of the use of torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment – under Saddam Hussein, during the US-led occupation of Iraq, during the conflict with Da’esh, and continuing into present-day Iraq. I’m encouraged by what I heard both from the Prime Minister and the Minister of Justice on tackling the issue of torture in the country, and to take preventive measures to ensure that torture has no place in the future of Iraq. I welcome their commitment to consider ratification of the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention Against Torture. The Optional Protocol mandates the creation of a national preventive mechanism, which conducts regular visits to places of detention and can play an important role in eradicating torture. I have offered our support in this regard.

Key to stopping such serious human rights violations is putting an end to the impunity that past perpetrators of human rights violations have enjoyed. This was a matter I discussed extensively with the Government and civil society, including in relation to the Tishreen protests of October 2019.

We have documented that at least 487 protesters were killed and 7,715 injured during demonstrations between 1 October 2019 and 30 April 2020, due to the use of force by Iraqi Security Forces and armed elements against protesters. The Government established a fact-finding committee and provided welcome support to victims through compensation programmes. Given the passage of time and lack of accountability, I have urged swift, transparent action to stem the impunity that has taken hold in relation to the Tishreen protests.

Equally important is the strengthening of judicial and national human rights institutions so that they can work independently and effectively – which I raised in my conversations with senior officials. I welcome all efforts of ongoing law reform in line with international human rights standards.

I have also called on the authorities to declare an official moratorium on the use of the death penalty in Iraq – where more than 11,000 people remain on death row.

Issues of concern that arose in almost every interaction I had were access to basic services, the need for good governance and transparency – and corruption. It is crucial that robust anti-corruption measures are taking hold, and that a culture of transparency, open to public scrutiny, is fostered. I also offered our Office’s expertise on human rights in national budgeting, to ensure that national budgets can deliver on basic services and are inclusive, building upon the Government’s important social safety net for the most vulnerable.

I am also in Iraq at a time when the terms “gender” and “women’s empowerment” are – astonishingly – under attack, distorted and confused. This makes no sense in the face of the massive challenges that the country has. The use of these terms is not in contradiction with any culture, religion or tradition.

All evidence tells us that we need more women in decision-making positions, and more protections in law, policy and society against violence against women. The 25 per cent quota for women in the Council of Representatives, Iraq’s legislature, is commendable – and needs to be increased. Attempts to ban the use of universally accepted terms that are crucial for achieving equality and non-discrimination are harmful, as are threats and intimidation against women working on these issues.

I urge leaders across society to cease the politics of distraction. Human rights must not be instrumentalized to divide us – human rights are what unites us, what brings us together as humanity, in dignity. Do not allow populist rhetoric to create more fractures in a society that has already experienced fragmentation. Disinformation campaigns, hate speech and incitement to violence must not be given free rein.

As we mark the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights this year, its principles are powerfully relevant for a State as richly diverse as Iraq, particularly its guarantee of human rights without distinction of nationality, gender, national or ethnic origin, religion, language, sexual orientation or any other status.

Twenty years ago this month, 22 of my UN colleagues, including my predecessor Sergio Vieira de Mello, were killed in a suicide bombing at the Canal Hotel in Baghdad, and 150 others were injured. These were colleagues who were in Iraq with a sincere desire to support and assist the Iraqi people in their aspirations for a better, more just future. I witnessed how these aspirations live on today.

There is a yearning for a common vision for a future that is grounded in human rights to be able to deal with the many difficult, long-standing issues it faces, so that the wounds can heal, and the gains that have been so painstakingly achieved can be preserved.

I leave Iraq with a clear appreciation of the progress, efforts and achievements of the people of this beautiful, diverse country – but also with the concern that the gains remain fragile.

I call on all those in positions of authority and influence to be guided by the interests and the human rights of the Iraqi people above all else and to tackle the corruption, discrimination, impunity, climate change and the remaining obstacles to lasting stability and peace.

To be able to address the big challenges of our times, we need to draw on the creativity and innovation that thrives when people are able to discuss the issues and propose solutions together. This means enlarging these freedoms as much as possible.

Our UN human rights team in Iraq is ready, as always, to assist, advise and support the promotion and protection of human rights for all Iraqis.

To make it clear to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights just how little the government about anything he had to say -- whether it was about human rights or climate change - the Iraqi government declared on the day his visit was on luding that therm "homosexual" was being outlawed in Iraqi media and the term "sexual deviancy" will instead now be used.

Amnesty International issued the following in response to that nonsense:

Responding to the directive issued by the Iraqi Communications and Media Commission (CMC) that media outlets must replace the term “homosexuality” with “sexual deviance” in their published and broadcast language, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa Aya Majzoub said:

“The directive from Iraq’s official media regulator is the latest in a series of attacks on freedom of expression under the guise of respect for “public morals”. The CMC’s ban of the word “homosexuality” and insistence that media use “sexual deviance” instead is a dangerous move that can fuel discrimination and violent attacks against members of the LGBTI community.”

“Furthermore, its ban and demonization of the word “gender” demonstrates a callous disregard for combatting gender-based violence at a time when civil society has been reporting an increase in crimes against women and girls, amid widespread impunity.”

“The Iraqi authorities must immediately overturn this decision and ensure that they respect the right to freedom of expression and non-discrimination for all individuals in the country, regardless of their gender or sexual orientation.”

Background:

Political parties in Iraq have increasingly criticized LGBTI rights, frequently burning rainbow flags and making outlandish claims blaming homosexuality for the spread of disease.

Between January and June of this year, the Ministry of Interior led a campaign to crack down on “indecent content” online, prosecuting at least 20 individuals over the peaceful exercise of their right to freedom of expression using vague public morality laws. On 18 July Amnesty International raised concerns regarding the government’s re-introduction of two draft laws to Parliament which, if passed, would severely curtail the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly in Iraq.

Volker Türk, the UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights, has s

Sunday, Olayemi Olurin's Olurinatti The Show streamed live.

We posted it Sunday. 19 years online and we've never received as many complaints about anything.

Some complaining were people who consider themselves allies to the LGBTQ+ community. To those, I either replied or had Shirley and Martha send out replies pointing out that the LGBTQ+ community is under attack. When ROE was gutted, we posted a number of videos that led to complaints. How could ___ say that? ___ said that (there was more than woman they were complaining about) because she was destroyed, her rights, her very being had just been destroyed. When people are going through that and speaking through their pain, it's not always going to be pretty. If you're a friend, an ally or someone who just wants to learn, you'd do well to not take it personally as someone works out and processes what they're going through. We have to be honest before we can come together -- if we're truly going to come together and work together on any issue.

I was talking to Marcia about the reaction to the video and she reminded me about 2008 when sexism was used to destroy Hillary Clinton and how outraged that left her and how she felt she had to keep it pretty. She reminded me that I told her to speak what she was going through and to get it out and that she wouldn't lose my support. That's what she did and that's how she processed.

Grasp also that when a speaker is saying "you," it doesn't always mean you personally. Try to hear what's being said. And don't feel you are personally being slammed because most times you personally or not. Did any of the guests on the show know you personally?

So don't take it personal.

The LGBTQ+ community is under attack. If we want to stand with them -- as we should -- that requires listening.

No, I'm not telling you that you can't disagree. But listen to what's being said.

And you can disagree with that and many of you did.

Many of you disagreed with what you saw as an attack on religion and many of you disagreed with the loud mouth who kept attacking marriage equality.

"Typical man," Marcia said of one of the guests, "he just wants to stick his dick everywhere."

Agreed.

You can personally feel that marriage equality is not for you. But you come off a little bitter when you start insulting it and insisting it doesn't matter.

You are an ahistorical idiot. Marriage equality does matter. 'Well if the work place laws had been focused on instead . . .'

Wake up, just wake the f**k up. Any laws to protect workers are a longterm struggle. Do you know how long it took to get any sort of serious laws on the books regarding workplace harassment and assault?

Workers have had to fight in this country for rights since the beginning of this country. And these are long labor struggles. You will always be able to achieve in the 'personal' sphere before you do in the 'work' sphere because business is power and our government has always protected power. That's reality.

So you're an idiot for that reason.

You're an idiot because you don't grasp what marriage rights entail or the decades of partners being kept out of hospital rooms because they weren't married. "Are you the spouse?" "B**ch, we can't get married!" "Well, you're not the spouse and you're not family so you can't see the dying person."

You don't get the historical struggle. As Marcia said, you only care about plugging dick in whenever you can.

Hey, fine. Go for it. Find as many willing partners as you want.

But grasp that you are not the only person in the world. And grasp that many same-sex couples wanted to get married and were denied that legal right. If you want anyone to help you -- and this speaker wanted accomplices not allies -- then stop making it all about your wants. Selfish doesn't make for a movement.

You need to be willing to help others when you're in need of help yourself. That's how it works. It's not a one way street, it's everyone working together for everyone.

The fat ass is an idiot for those reasons.

But the fat ass is also an idiot because he's insulting same-sex marriage and has no idea what's he's talking about. Maybe all that dick sticking's left him tired? Or stopped the blood flow to the brain?

Lorie Smith's life should be a living hell. Whenever she's seen in public, people should either boo her or point to her and laugh. No one should do business with her. She lied to the Court in order to secure her 'right' to discriminate against gay men and lesbians -- it was too traumatic for her to design the equivalent of a digital wedding invitation for same sex couples. No one should befriend her. She stripped gay men and lesbians of their rights. She should rot in hell when she dies for what she did.

And so should the people who helped her -- that's Jonathan Turley and all of them -- rot in hell.

But fat ass doesn't understand that Court decision.

We noted here immediately that this turned a group of citizens into second class-citizens. They don't have full citizenship. When you're saying X has all of these rights but Y only has rights as long as it doesn't offend religious crazies, then Y does not have full citizenship. I grasped that immediately and we repeatedly addressed it here.

That was weeks ago.

If I were writing it today, I'd write the exact same thing. However . . .

I would add to it.

The verdict was about stripping gay men and lesbians of their rights.

But what I didn't grasp was that the marriage equality decision was so 'offensive' to homophobes not because it granted marriage equality but because it granted citizenship.

That's why the most extreme are opposed to it.

I didn't know that. I didn't find that out until someone dropped a flash drive off at my agent's. Supposedly, it was Glenn Greenwald's browser history. I have no idea if that was his or not. But it's filled with hatred of LGBTQ+ people. And the Supreme Court decision on marriage equality is ripped apart over and over -- in Tweets and in articles -- because, they insist, for the first time gay men and lesbians have actual citizenship in the eyes of the Court. They argue that marriage equality must be overturned because that is how you destroy gay men and lesbians and legally get away with it.

So fat ass might need to shut his damn mouth next time.

He doesn't care about marriage? That's his right. But others do care -- gay men and lesbians. And the right wing is determined to overturn marriage equality. So he really needs to shut up because he doesn't know what the hell he's talking about.

We get it. You're a fat man -- maybe you can't keep partner, maybe you don't want to keep one. Live your life the way you want but stop lying -- and COUNTERPUNCH is really bad about running crap like this too -- and insisting that same-sex marriage does not matter and is not important.

You don't know the law, you don't know the pushback, you don't know the history, you don't know what the hell you're talking about.

And that is the only flaw in Olay's video. No one pushed back. Everyone acted like that was the 100% universal opinion on same-sex marriage.

That's not a discussion and fat man should have been called out for the reasons I outlined above.

According to PEW, the US Census Bureau estimates there are 711.129 same-sex married couples in the US. That would be 1.4 million people. Their lives matter, their rights matter. The Human Rights Campaign has estimated that there are 20 million LGBTQ+ persons in the United States. Some of those probably never want to marry which is fine. That's no different than straight or cis gender people. But you have no right to spit on what marriage equality means for those who did marry and for those who want to marry. You should not want to join the hate merchants on the right-wing who spit on marriage equality. That fat man got to spew his ignorance -- and that his attacks are the same as those voiced by homophobes -- without anyone calling him out or noting that his view was not universal for LGBTQ+ people or even universal for gay men -- or even universal for gay fat men who struggle with getting laid due to anger issues and girth. I think the panel absolutely failed on that one.

When that garbage goes up at COUNTERPUNCH? Oh, you're so radical, you've impressed us all -- is that what we're supposed to think? All I think is, "You're a f**king idiot, a hateful f**king idiot and you're like the idiot that wrote at COUNTERPUNCH attacking Angelina Jolie for her mastectomy." Angelina, who I know, lost her mother to cancer. How she decides to protect herself to be there for her kids is her damn business. She didn't need to be attacked by a bunch of liars and haters. But the more-radical-than-though trash attacked Angelina. (And killed her own career. She whined later that she had to take on part time work because she couldn't find jobs anymore in the entertainment industry. Yes, dear, we made sure of that.) And that's how the fat man looks. Like he's trying to play more-radical-than-though.

Even with him as part of the discourse, I would post the video again (and have above in this snapshot). And I would recommend the video for other aspects of the discussion. I think he serves a purpose in the video -- he shows how gay men try to create their own hierarchy -- by which I mean, note how he cuts off women repeatedly. Note how he bellows and raises his voice and is unable to engage in a laid back conversation. Again, LGBTQ+ people are under attack. There's no reason for him to basically manspread across the dialogue silencing others.

Turning to the state of decline that is Florida currently, Ron DeSantis is destroying the future of children. Tuesday, Stan noted that the latest school book banning was William Shakespeare. Jeffrey S. Solochek (TAMPA BAY TIMES) reports, "lans in Hillsborough County schools to reduce the works of William Shakespeare to excerpts were met with derision by state education officials on Tuesday."

Gabrilla Ferrigine (SALON) quotes Gaither High School reading teacher Joseph Cool declaring, "I think the rest of the nation -- no, the world, is laughing us." These things are not happening by accident. Naomi Wolf's friends in Moms For Bigotry have been working to destroy the country for some time now. Ari Odzer (NBC MIAMI) reports:

Meanwhile, Tuesday the Broward County School Board spent hours on an agenda item that took about five minutes last year and generated zero controversy. The board was considering the approval of 98 resolutions, such as marking Hispanic Heritage Month, autism awareness, breast cancer awareness, and many more. It was the three resolutions supporting the LGBTQ community, which drew a crowd of supporters and opponents to comment.

“Many parents are concerned with an overexposure to this agenda,” said Marta Mesa of Weston.

“No one is trying to force your child to be LGBTQ+,” said board member Sarah Leonardi, who pointed out that the resolutions are not curriculum and they do not violate the law.

The board voted 6-2 to approve the long list of resolutions after hearing from dozens of speakers.

“I know firsthand how it feels to be seen and accepted for who you are and to not be, and that’s the feeling we want our students to have, so by standing up for pride and LGBT history, we’re saying hey, you, no matter what, we’ve got your back,” said Elijah Manley of Fort Lauderdale.

“I oppose the resolutions for pride month, LGBTQ history month and a day of silence, how can anyone guarantee that the discussions about sexuality or gender ideology are not gonna happen in the classroom? You can’t,” said Sabrina Artilles, who was wearing a Moms For Liberty shirt.

We need to all be clear on this -- especially those of us who are feminists -- there is -- and can be -- no comeback for Naomi Wolf. We indulged her crazy chem trail talk, we looked the other way on way too much, including that very nasty divorce (nasty and non-feminist). There's no comeback from this. She's aligned herself with a bigoted hate group. They quoted Hitler in their newsletter -- signing of on Hitler -- and that's didn't bother her, in fact, she said, "As a Jew . . ." Why not as a pill popper? Or are those days over? Moms For Bigotry are racists and homophobes and transphobes. This is the group she has championed. This is the group that she pretends is grass roots -- it's not. They bus in to various towns in order to try to take control. It's not grass roots. You could -- and should -- call it astroturf. They are anti-choice -- which also doesn't bother her. Now Naomi went nuts when she thought the Constitution was over and we all tried to be kind and tolerant of her drug-fueled rants and 'visions.' Other than warning Michael Ratner against her, I really just looked the other way.

That's setting aside THIRD. Ava and I have a long history of calling Nut Job Naomi out at THIRD. I am sure during this time we called her out -- as we have many other times. We called her out for her 'subtle' racism -- FIRE WITH FIRE, read the passage on Virginia Woodhouse and then the one following on Madam CJ Walker and note how the White woman is written of as opposed to how Walker -- someone actually worthy of praise for her accomplishments -- is instead trashed for how she looks and we could talk about how PROMISCUTIES finds chatty Naomi detailing how she stayed over at the frat with her then-boyfriend and a woman was raped there that night and it was discussed -- and one of her bloody shoes was left behind -- and Naomi laughed along so as not to harsh anyone's buzz -- she never called the rapist out as he sat at the table and she never reported it to campus safety -- racism and being pro-rape are only a few on Crazy Wolf's crimes.

There's no comeback for her now.

She's chosen to celebrate Moms Of Bigotry despite them being anti-choice, anti-reproductive rights, despite their public attacks on LGBTQ+ people, their attacks on books and the right to read, their attacks on the First Amendment, their embrace of Hitler and so much more.

There's no comeback. There's no "Woopsie!" that wipes this away. She made her decision and has chosen to stand with those hate merchants. As such, that's what she is now. Even the quoting and endorsing of Hitler didn't set Naomi Wolf straight. We can't afford her -- feminism can't afford her, humanity can't afford her. Sometimes, you just have to write someone off. She's not worth it.

It's not an issue of "She can't change!" She changes all the times. She's just inconsistent -- common among those active in drug use -- and can't follow through on the issues that matter to us, the ones that we see as non-negotiable.

(And, yes, to those e-mailing about how I've roped off one criticism of her. Yes, I did call her out on that in real time. To note it today would risk someone and I'm not prepared to do that. I called her out loudly and repeatedly on this and it's in the archives. But bringing it up now actually harms _____ _______ so I'm leaving that alone.)

Florida is on its way to becoming Iraq as a result of Ron DeSantis. He is destroying Florida and, sadly, he'll be fine, it's the children right now who are going to suffer. Their education will be short changed, their life experience will be limited. Let's wind this down with a humorous Tweet from Paul Rudnick.

The following sites updated:

For a junior, he's an awfully big embarrassment

Little Robert Kennedy Junior is still trying to woo Democrats (well, Republicans, but he's running in the Democratic primary). If an image has emerged since April when he declared his campaign for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination, it's the I-will-say-anything-for-attention. FACTCHECK.ORG notes:

An undercurrent to many of Kennedy’s science-based claims is that he is uniquely positioned to understand the science, whereas actual scientists are not. “I don’t necessarily believe all the scientists, because I can read science myself,” he told the New Yorker in July, just after misrepresenting the science of the COVID-19 vaccines. “That’s what I do for a living. I read science critically.”

But time and time again, a review of the evidence contradicts Kennedy’s views. He misrepresents major conclusions from papers and gets other details wrong. He conveniently ignores the scientific literature — often vast, and of higher quality — that runs counter to his beliefs. He misleads on vaccine law and misunderstands key governmental programs, consistently viewing them through a lens of conspiracy and corruption.

Our team of science writers has combed through his recent interviews to identify and correct some of his most common health claims in a three-part series. We’re focusing on some of his more plausible health claims because these are more likely to negatively influence people.

[. . .]

One of Kennedy’s most common and pernicious false claims is that vaccines are not tested for safety in clinical trials.

“Vaccines are the only medical product that is not safety-tested prior to licensure,” Kennedy said in a July 15 “Fox & Friends” interview.

“We should have the same kind of testing — placebo-controlled trials — that we have for every other medication,” he also said to Fox News’ Jesse Watters on July 10. “Vaccines are exempt from pre-licensing placebo-controlled trials.”

“None of the vaccines are ever subjected to true placebo-controlled trials,” Kennedy said in a June 15 episode of the “Joe Rogan Experience” podcast. “It’s the only medical product that is exempt from that prior to licensure.”

Kennedy’s line is a falsehood he’s been using since at least 2017, when he said much the same in a Q&A interview with STAT.

All vaccines undergo safety testing prior to authorization or approval. To claim that vaccines are not tested for safety is overtly false.

This is the best we can do? This is our alternative to Joe Biden? If so, hand Joe the nomination already. Here's another take on him:

A little research shows that there is so much more to RFK Jr. than his anti-vaxx rantings during the pandemic. But the attraction of his name, coupled with his crusade against all things pharma — even suggesting that ‘Vaccine Research’ was likely responsible for HIV and the Spanish Flu and pushing the false notion that antidepressants are linked to school shootings — plays the MAGA base like a fiddle, pipe and drum. Suggesting that the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 was bioengineered to spare the Jews and Chinese people, RFK Jr. proved that he does antisemitic/racist falsehoods nearly as well as the thrice-indicted Trump.

In true MAGA style, when questioned by Elizabeth Vargas at a town hall event whether he’d pledge to support whoever wins the Democratic nomination, Kennedy said, "of course I’m not gonna do that.”

Is Steve Bannon writing his script?

Speaking of Bannon, just a week ago, Bannon once again let the tiger out of the bag by suggesting that a Trump-RFK Jr. ticket would win in a “massive landslide”. The GOP, Bannon continued, would welcome RFK Jr., this ersatz Dem, into their lair. Kennedy has a favorability rating among Republicans that exceeds a 2-to-1 margin, and unlike a Kristi Noem or a Kari Lake, he has instant connection, via his surname, to every voter in America.

Again, this is not what we need.

"Iraq snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):

Wednesday, August 9, 2023. We look more at the efforts to dumb down Americans through censorship, Iraq and US military leaders meet to go over the continued occupation of Iraq, the Abu Ghraib standard may finally get heard in court, and much more.

On the heels of yesterday's snapshot, let's start with the book banners who are determined to make the rest of us just as stupid as they are. Historian Neil J. Young (CNN) reports:

In the current fight over AP Psychology, the College Board has indicated it doesn’t plan to negotiate with Florida. Some Republican lawmakers in Florida have predictably responded by accusing the College Board of being “so committed to wokeism” that it is willing to sacrifice the course rather than adjust it to comply with Florida’s rules.

That AP Psychology has even been caught in the crosshairs of the “Don’t Say Gay” law may surprise many Florida parents. When the controversial legislation, officially titled the Parental Rights in Education Act, was first proposed in 2022, it only pertained to classroom instruction for students in kindergarten through third grade.

That narrow designation helped inoculate the bill against much of the criticism directed at it. What normal person would think discussions of sexuality were appropriate for second graders, the bill’s defenders liked to dramatically ask. “It’s basically saying for our younger students, do you really want them being taught about sex?” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis contended, a rationale that struck some Americans, no matter their politics, as reasonable.

Yet critics recognized that Florida’s restrictive legislation wasn’t really intended for only its youngest students. Instead, as some educators and LGBTQ activists contended, it was the opening wedge of a broader assault on LGBTQ rights and public education in the state.

In April, that plan became clearer when the Florida State Board of Education expanded its ban on instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity through the 12th grade. The bill sold to Florida voters as a sensible measure to ensure kindergartners wouldn’t hear about sex in the classroom would now prevent high school seniors from being able to learn about the psychobiological basis of human sexuality — and possibly also from earning college credit for such coursework.

In light of all the talk in Florida — and around the country — that parents should have a greater say over their children’s education, it’s worth noting that the AP Psychology class apparently has generated little objections in Florida in the past. Quite the opposite. It was the fifth most popular AP course in the state in 2021. For the 2023-2024 school year, about 30,000 Florida students planned on taking the class.

Given both AP Psychology’s popularity and its uncontroversial reputation in the state, the dust-up over the course exposes the lie of the parental rights discourse in Florida and elsewhere. Some Florida parents have voiced their anger that the course may be canceled, just as they have protested the ban on AP African American studies. Rather than empowering parents, Florida’s overreaching legislation always seemed to be just a play for power by the state’s Republican lawmakers and, especially, a publicity stunt by a small-minded governor who wants to be the next president.

They're stupid and they're uninformed and they want the rest of the world that way. Let's look one individual freak that Katherine Fung (NEWSWEEK) reports on:

The wife of a Republican state representative has been switching out books from free library boxes with bibles and other religious reading materials that she believes better align with her Christian values, but the backlash has her husband rushing to her defense.

Jennifer Meeks, who is married to Arkansas State Representative Stephen Meeks, posted about her efforts to swap out the books last week on her Facebook account, according to a community page on the social networking site.

"I have been swapping out books in little free libraries for awhile," a screenshot of Jennifer's original post reads. She continued, "Recently I have been picking up free Bibles at flea markets and thrift stores. Sometimes I find good devotion books or kids' Bible stories at a good price to add. Or just great books, and a gospel tract is a nice idea too."

So she loves THE BIBLE but not enough, right? I mean, she's doing THE BIBLE on the cheap after all. She's not supporting a Christian book store and buying new copies of THE BIBLE. She's going to flea markets and thrift stores. To find cheap copies. I didn't know you could get used copies there but I'm sure many people do. And I'm sure those people would go to a thrift store or a flea market to get a copy. Because they couldn't afford it otherwise. Which means Jennifer Meeks' little stunt is probably depriving low income Christians of access to THE BIBLE because she's littering copies of it in free library boxes. I wonder how doing Christianity on the cheap is supposed to help with salvation?

Looking at her face online, she looks like someone who's never had an orgasm. Looking at her husband's, I don't think she ever will.

Like Moms For Bigotry and "Brave" (with Closeted Authors) Books, it's just a censorship effort. On that not-so-Brave Books issue, the editorial board of MASS.LIVE notes the reality of that censorship group:

Burek acknowledged that one of the Brave Books authors, former teen actor Kirk Cameron of the 1980s TV sit-com “Growing Pains,” is a leading anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ activist. But Cameron’s first book, “As You Grow,” “had nothing like that,” Burek said.

The actor’s second children’s book with the company is called “Pride Comes Before the Fall.” His book tour coincided with Pride Month. In an appearance in Seattle, Cameron said this, according to the conservative Washington Times: “When you have an entire nation setting aside a month to celebrate something as dangerous as pride, I feel it’s my responsibility to hold up the truth of humility so kids can have a chance,” Cameron said. “They deserve the chance to have a life of blessing, not a life of misery and destruction that comes from being focused on yourself.”

Late this spring, the Ludlow School Committee considered a proposal that the superintendent no longer have final say on which books are allowed in the district. The committee wanted that authority for itself; the measure died, amid heavy news coverage, when it did not receive a second.

Kelly Kapinos, one of the counter-protesters Saturday, said she came to support the right of parents to decide what they’d like their children to read – or not read. Oh, and grandparents – she has five grandchildren in the town’s schools.

Kapinos said she watched a video of Cameron promoting his new book. “The first thing he talks about is the indoctrination of children. No one is indoctrinating kids in Ludlow. Our teachers follow the law,” she said. “You could argue that it is ‘grooming’ to only read religious books that say the only way to have a family is with a mom and a dad. … Our group here today is about loving everyone, no hate, and being accepted, and that’s it.”

We think Kapinos has the right read on what’s going on.

If you're not standing up to these bullies, if you're not calling out them and the people in bed with them (Naomi Wolf, for example), then you really are part of the problem. When is it enough for you? As Stan noted last night in "Janet Jackson and Shakespeare," there's a Florida school now censoring William Shakespeare. Do we want an informed group of children who can compete with others in the world or a 'confederacy of dunces' who embarrass themselves and others?

Nia Cain (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE) notes:

I attended a rural public school from kindergarten through high school and throughout my education, but especially in high school, my teachers invited diverse literature into the classroom. Some of those books had a deep influence on me, and they helped me become who I am today.

I’m now going into my senior year of college, but if I were back at my high school today, I may have never opened and experienced them. Increasing numbers of people in increasing numbers of school systems want to ban books and keep students like me from reading them.

Throughout my primary education, my peers and I were actively exposed to books that contained ideas that challenged our shared beliefs and opened new doors. For example, Angie Thomas’ “The Hate U Give” was the first book I read that discussed the realities Black Americans like myself experience outside of history textbooks, which tiptoed around slavery.

Thomas’s critically acclaimed book and books like it can be essential empowering pieces for minority readers. These books can spark important conversations for all students. Yet the book has been banned nationwide for the "sensitive language" it uses.

“The Color Purple” taught me the strength and courage it takes to break free from and acknowledge the trauma that shapes the experiences and lives of others. That book has been facing book bans since 1984, only two years after its release.

Book-banning initiatives started by concerned adults seeking to protect children from topics and points of view deemed inappropriate may be well-intentioned. But they have unintended consequences: The rise of book bans will rob future generations of Americans of the value of diverse literature. In the name of temporary protection, the bans risk leaving students ignorant of diverse ideas and fearful of discussing them.

The urge to ban books spans party and state lines. In the first half of the 2022-23 school year, literary advocacy group PEN America recorded 1,477 instances of individual book bans. School districts are censoring everything from, “And Tango Makes Three,” a nonfiction children's book about two male penguins raising an orphaned baby penguin, to “The Bluest Eye,” an American classic about the idea of whiteness and beauty through the eyes of an African American girl in the 1970s.

In Seattle, the Mukilteo School Board unanimously voted to drop “To Kill a Mockingbird” from the ninth-grade reading list last January. The school board removed the widely popular novel because it "marginalized characters of color, celebrated 'white savior hood' and used racial slurs dozens of times without addressing their derogatory nature." As classics like “To Kill a Mockingbird” leave reading lists, the story of book removals is being repeated across the country.

Yesterday, the US Defense Dept issued the following by Jim Garamone:

U.S. and Iraqi defense leaders discussed an enduring strategic relationship between the two nations during talks at the Pentagon.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III welcomed Iraqi Defense Minister Thabit Muhammad Al-Abassi for a discussion on U.S.-Iraq joint security cooperation dialogue yesterday.

This U.S.-Iraq bilateral engagement looks beyond the Defeat-ISIS agreement. The U.S. military has troops in Iraq at the invitation of the Iraqi government to support Iraqi security forces battling the terror group.

"Through the global coalition to defeat ISIS, we have liberated more than 50,000 square kilometers of territory, and more than 4.5 million Iraqis have now been freed from the tyranny of ISIS," Austin said during the Pentagon meeting. "Today, U.S. and coalition forces continue to advise, assist and enable the Iraqi security forces in the Iraqi lead fight against ISIS at the invitation of the Government of Iraq. The United States stands with the people of Iraq as you build your secure and sovereign and economically vibrant nation."

The secretary said the relationship is changing as Iraqi forces grow more capable and confident. "The joint security cooperation dialogue reflects our maturing strategic partnership building on the U.S.-Iraq Strategic Dialogue in July 2021 when the U.S. forces with a combat role, ended their mission," he said.

This meeting looks beyond the defeat of the Islamic State and is an outgrowth of a visit Austin made to Baghdad in March. "We are interested in an enduring defense relationship within a strategic partnership," said Dana Stroul, deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East, during an interview last week.

Many officials are calling this an agreement on establishing a "360-degree relationship" — meaning it would be a whole-of-government strategic partnership for years.

The U.S. side of the discussion is chaired by Celeste Wallander, the assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs. She is joined by other defense officials and officials from the State Department, the Joint Staff, U.S. Central Command, the Defense Security Cooperation Agency and the National Security Council.

The Defeat-ISIS effort will continue in Iraq and Syria, officials said. The Joint Security Cooperation Dialogue is looking at ways to normalize the bilateral relationship between Iraq and the United States militaries. This includes exercises, military training, exchange programs for officers and NCOs. "All of these are things that we are seeking to build the architecture for an enduring defense partnership with Iraq," Stroul said.

The military relationship between the countries is good and functions well. Leaders in both countries would like to see the relationship expand in other areas — the economy, cooperation on climate change, diplomatically and more, said Alina Romanowski, the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq. Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Sudani "has been very open to this and has been very interested in working in areas that line up with his vision and his objectives to bring stability, sovereignty and security to Iraq," the ambassador said. "It's also an opportunity in some ways to continue to support … the reintegration and the engagement of Iraq in the region."

The dialogue will also look at the Defeat-ISIS mission and the state of the Iraqi Security Forces. While the ISIS caliphate was defeated in 2019, "their ideology remains unconstrained and is still a threat as they seek to rebuild some capacity and capability to conduct attacks and to regain or reemerge as a significant threat to the population in Iraq and Syria," said Army Maj. Gen. Matt McFarlane, the commander of Combined Joint Operation Inherent Resolve.

He noted that Iraqi forces lead and there is significant progress. There has been a 64% reduction in ISIS attacks in Iraq this year. The general estimated there were about 1,000 ISIS adherents in Iraq and another 1,000 in Syria.

"We also see our partners conducting wide-area security operations, keeping pressure on the ISIS network," McFarlane said. "Our [special operations forces] continue to dismantle the ISIS network and the leadership network that's out there," he said.

The war on Iraq was never about freedom or about helping the Iraqi people. That's why the US government never cared about the suffering of the Iraqi people, never cared about their voting rights (the US negotiated Erbil Agreement turned over the results of the 2010 Iraq election, for example). And it's why the US government put radcial fundamentalists in charge in Iraq.

REUTERS reports:

Iraq has banned media from using the term "homosexuality", in favour of the phrase "sexual deviance".

The country's official media regulator also said the word "gender" was banned.

The ban would apply to all media and social media companies operating in the nation, the Iraqi Communications and Media Commission (CMC) said.

It prohibited all licensed CMC phone and internet companies from using the terms in any of their apps.

Didn't happen under Saddam. But it happens under the corrupt government that the US created in Iraq.

Another disgrace the US government created in Iraq was the Abu Ghraib torture. From yesterday's DEMOCRACY NOW!

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. I’m Amy Goodman.

We end today’s show with a federal lawsuit brought by Iraqi torture survivors that appears to finally be heading to trial, after a federal judge refused to dismiss the case. The Center for Constitutional Rights and four Iraqi men are suing the U.S. military contractor CACI, which was hired to provide interrogation services at Abu Ghraib, the Iraqi prison where the men were tortured by U.S. guards. The lawsuit was first filed in 2008, 15 years ago. Since then, CACI has attempted 18 times to have the case dismissed.

This is one of the plaintiffs in the case, Salah al-Ejaili, speaking on Democracy Now! almost a decade ago, talking about what he endured at Abu Ghraib in November of 2003. He was working as a journalist for Al Jazeera, had traveled to Iraq’s Diyala province to report on the U.S. invasion. It was there that U.S. soldiers detained him. He said when he asked what he was being taken in for, their response was “You know the reason.” He was ultimately transferred to Abu Ghraib. When I spoke to him a decade later, he was in Doha, Qatar. I asked him about his time in captivity.

SALAH HASSAN AL-EJAILI: [translated] Throughout my detainment in the solitary cells, there was an interrogation every two or three days. During these interrogations, we were subjected to many psychological and physical torture methods. One of these methods was that you were kept naked, handcuffed, the hood on your head, then they would bring a big dog. You hear the panting and barking of the dog very close to your face. This is one of the methods of torture and interrogation that they conducted. There are many other similar cases.

AMY GOODMAN: How long were you held like this?

SALAH HASSAN AL-EJAILI: [translated] These interrogations that happened every two or three days would last for an hour, an hour and a half or two hours, in this manner. The details of the interrogations were different. In some cases, they would bring dogs, then start the interrogation. In other cases, they’d put you in a place and throw cold water or hot tea on you, then start the interrogation. But, of course, all the interrogations were conducted while you were kept naked and hooded, and they’d ask you questions to which you answer. I stayed for 40 days in a solitary cell, and 70% of that time I was kept naked.

AMY GOODMAN: That’s Salah Hassan of Al Jazeera, also known as Salah al-Ejaili.

Well, for more, we’re joined by Baher Azmy. He is legal director for the Center for Constitutional Rights, representing the Abu Ghraib plaintiffs in the case.

Baher, welcome back to Democracy Now! Explain the significance of the judge once again saying, “No, the lawsuit will not be thrown out,” as CACI has attempted 18 times to do it.

BAHER AZMY: Thanks, Amy, for continuing to pay attention to this now-epic struggle by our clients to get justice, some measure of justice.

Yeah, what the court held here, and has held repeatedly, is that the plaintiffs here, our clients, have presented sufficient evidence that they were subject to torture at Abu Ghraib and that there was a connection between the military police, some of which were featured on the pictures that we’ve all come to be horrified by — there was a connection between the military police and CACI interrogators sent from headquarters in the United States, insofar as those interrogators, the CACI interrogators, were ordering the military police, who were acting as guards, to, quote, “soften up” detainees in the night shift at Abu Ghraib, where there was, as military commanders found investigating the war crimes at Abu Ghraib, a command vacuum. So the court has found that there was sufficient evidence of torture, sufficient evidence connecting the torture to CACI interrogators and domestic headquarters, and has cleared away any, I think, remaining obstacles to this case finally going to trial and our clients speaking openly in court.

AMY GOODMAN: So, talk about your clients. Start with Salah, who we just saw, who we interviewed like 10 years ago. Where is he today? What happened to him and the others?

BAHER AZMY: Yeah, so, we represent, in this case, four detainees. We had prior cases, representing nearly 200 individuals, that was thrown out by a D.C. federal appellate panel, and in the majority was Kavanaugh, and in dissent was Garland. We brought another case on behalf of 71 Iraqi citizens against a translation company. That’s the Al-Quraishi case. That settled favorably. And this case is on behalf of now three — regrettably, one of the four plaintiffs was dismissed — individuals who were in the “hard site” at Abu Ghraib. This is against CACI specifically. And all three plaintiffs were swept up in the chaos after the occupation, ultimately found their way to Abu Ghraib and suffered the range of tactics, interrogation tactics and violence tactics, that cumulatively amounted to torture, so sleep deprivation, forced nudity, sexual humiliation, temperature manipulation and outright beatings.

And Salah, in particular, has found his way to Sweden with his family, now has residence there. They’re all suffering the aftereffects, psychological and physical, of their time in Abu Ghraib 20 years hence. But Salah and the others are really seriously looking forward to appearing in a U.S. court and telling a jury and the American public about what happened to them.

AMY GOODMAN: Baher, can you talk about the email sent by a CACI employee? The judge in the case, Leonie Brinkema, has said this could really be a smoking gun, the CACI employee writing an email to his boss outlining what he had witnessed, apparently resigning in protest, the judge said. Brinkema said she was amazed that no one at CACI seemed to follow up on the employee’s concerns. CACI lawyers have disputed that the email, which is not publicly available, is incriminating. Talk about what CACI is, how it was involved, and what their argument is.

BAHER AZMY: Yeah, so, CACI now, which is a huge — continues to have huge contracts with the United States government around surveillance and technology and border technology, at the time was hired to provide interrogation services under contract with the U.S. government and sent over highly unqualified but comparatively senior private contractors that took command of the military police and ordered these kinds of abuses to extract — to soften up the detainees and extract intelligence.

So, the question in recent years, as a result of Supreme Court rulings, is to what extent is corporate domestic conduct related or perpetuating what happened abroad, for purposes of, you know, this jurisdictional question. And Judge Brinkema, in a prior hearing, did single out an email going back and forth between on the ground at Abu Ghraib and headquarters pointing out the seriousness of interrogator conduct there, sounding the alarm to headquarters, which, we say, the headquarters largely ignored and covered up and continued to deny to this day.

AMY GOODMAN: Baher, I wanted to show an image — and for radio listeners, they can go to democracynow.org — of the plaintiff we heard, Salah, Salah al-Ejaili, Salah Hassan, hooded in Abu Ghraib with his vomit at his feet. Where did this photo come from?

BAHER AZMY: This came from the discovery process in the case. There are not many photos that, you know, specifically identify our plaintiffs, but this is one of them. As you see, he’s prostate, suffering, hooded, bound, in the humiliating physical and psychological set of techniques that were so prevalent in Guantánamo and Abu Ghraib and that he and the other plaintiffs had to endure.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, we are going to continue to follow this, as we have for these years, a case that is now moving forward after 15 years. Baher Azmy, legal director for the Center for Constitutional Rights, representing the Abu Ghraib plaintiffs in this case against CACI. For two decades, he’s been part of a team challenging the U.S. government over the rights of Guantánamo prisoners, discriminatory policing practices, government surveillance and the rights of asylum seekers and accountability for victims of torture, and representing these Abu Ghraib prisoners, as well.

The following sites updated: