Saturday, October 14, 2017

Power can be an issue

"This goes on all over the world, on all kinds of levels, and you know very, very powerful men and not very powerful men, but I think that they have to be put in jail."



That's Jane Fonda speaking about Harvey Weinstein's crimes.

And she's exactly right, he does need to go to prison.

I don't think she's right regarding "very powerful men."

The man who raped me wasn't "very powerful."

I think rapists and abusers come in all kinds.

And I do believe that power can be an impacting factor -- but with the power aspect, I believe it effects both genders.

I think we have a much larger sex trafficking problem in this country than we admit to -- I think a larger number of children are exploited than we ever want to admit to.

And I think there are a lot more women preying on children -- solo and with male partners -- than we want to admit to.

I appreciate the work of Ashton Kutcher.






This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"


Friday, October 13, 2017.  Iraq again on the brink of civil war?


How bad are things?

A Talabani e-merges.

Jalal Talabani was a two-time president of Iraq.  His family is one of the ruling families in the KRG.  He died last week and there was little international focus -- in part because Jalal disgraced himself by kowtowing to the United States and betraying Kurdish interests and also because for the last two years of his presidency he hid from the people because he was too ill to hold the post -- he could not speak and he was paralyzed.

His wife Hero helped fool the Iraqi people.

But the reality was that his PUK party then went from the first ranked party in the region to beneath it's long term rival the KDP (led by the Barzanis) and also beat out by the newly emergent Goran party.

Today, Jalal's eldest son Bafel has issued a statement:

Today we face a massive financial crisis and we stand under the specter of war -- a war we do not need, a war we do not want.  Today the Kurdish Peshmerga and the Iraqi army are facing each other across a potential battlefield.   


Bafel Talabani, Mam Jalals Son makes an statement in English regarding current political situation in - Iraq Video Part 1




That's how bad things are: a Talabani sees a political opening.



Hayder al-Abadi never had a shot at being a smart person.  When you are best described as "sniveling," chances are the only marks you'll ever leave will be in your own underwear.

But did anyone grasp that he was this stupid?

ALJAZEERA reports:

 The Kurdish Regional Government has deployed thousands of troops around the disputed oil city of Kirkuk for fear of an attack by Iraqi government army and militia, a senior official said.
"Thousands of heavily armed peshmerga units are now completely in their positions around Kirkuk," a top aide to Kurdistan regional president Masoud Barzani posted on social media on Friday.


Remember September 25th, when the Kurds held a non-binding referendum?

And all the leaders or 'leaders' of various countries were in a state of high drama, this referendum will tear Iraq apart!

It didn't.

It was a peaceful vote.

It did nothing other than register the opinions of over 90% of Iraqi Kurds.

The drama came not from the Kurds but from those around them.

And now that Baghdad is threatening the Kurds, where are the same leaders or 'leaders' to condemn these remarks and actions?


govt deploys ‘tens of thousands’ of fighters in to confront Iraqi ‘threats’ (Archive image)



What's going on?


IBT reports that Hayder is denying that the Iraqi military is being mobilized and on the verge of attacking.

PM "Our forces cannot & will not attack our citizens, Arab or Kurd. The fake news being spread has a deplorable agenda behind it"



While some are calling it fake news, there is this:


Soldiers from Iraqi ERD are posting photos on social media alongside newly captured Peshmerga positions south of



: Iraqi general announces beginning of military operation against Kurdish-held province

Iraqi militia burning a Kurdish flag in a position they took over near Kerkuk. Why Kurds don't trust these sectarian & racist scum.
 



Oil rich Kirkuk has always been a hot spot.

Bully Boy Bush had to send troops to defuse the situation at one point, former President Barack Obama had to do the same.

Baghdad wants Kirkuk due to the oil, the KRG wants it due to the oil.

The RAND Corporation, at the end of Bully Boy Bush's occupying the White House, identified Kirkuk as the hot spot noting that the unresolved status meant problems for the future.



Iraq is about to declare war on Iraqi Kurdistan simply because the want freedom. Is the US going to abandon its loyal ally again?




The following community sites -- plus Jody Watley -- updated:









  •  
  •  





    iraq iraq iraq iraq iraq Iraq