Saturday, June 27, 2020

An African-American woman has been picked as the running mate

This is Angela Walker.



She is the vice presidential candidate for the Green Party.  She is Howie Hawkins running mate. And in the video below, she's being interviewed by Dust James.





Don't know when Joe Biden's going to get off his lazy butt but Howie picked Angela weeks ago.


Here's The Last Outlaws offering a take on Howie Hawkins' campaign.







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


Friday, June 26, 2020.  In the US, Howie Hawkins now appears to be the Green Party's presidential nominee, Turkey continues to terrorize northern Iraq as a new death and a video of children playing makes clear. the Iraqi forces arrest some members of a militia, and much more.


Starting in the United States where another party has a presidential nominee.  Until the Democratic Party's national convention formalizes things, Joe Biden is the presumed presidential nominee of the Democratic Party.  By the same token (until the Green Party holds its national convention next month and formalizes it), Howie Hawkins is now the presumed presidential nominee for the Green Party.. Chris Baker (SYRACUSE.COM) reports:

A Syracuse activist and campaign season mainstay has secured enough support to run for president as the Green Party’s candidate.
Howie Hawkins locked up enough Green Party delegates over the weekend to represent the party in November’s election.
His running mate is Angela Walker, an activist from Wisconsin who previously ran for vice president with the Socialist Party USA.
“Mounting unnecessary deaths from Covid-19 and the uprising against racism have revealed how the two governing parties are presiding over a failed state,” Hawkins said in a press release. “The Green Party is the alternative: Medicare for All, the full-strength Green New Deal, an Economic Bill of Rights, and ending militarized policing at home and abroad.”







Howard Gresham Hawkins (born December 8, 1952) is an American trade unionist and environmental activist from New York. A co-founder of the Green Party of the United States, Hawkins is the party's presumptive presidential nominee. His primary campaign issues include enacting an eco-socialist Green New Deal, which he first proposed in 2010, and building a viable, independent working-class political and social movement in opposition to the Democratic and Republican parties and capitalism in general.[2]
Hawkins has played leading roles in anti-war,[3] anti-nuclear,[4] and pro-worker movements since the 1960s. Hawkins is a retired teamster and construction worker; from 2001 until his retirement in 2017, Hawkins worked the night shift unloading trucks for UPS.[5][6]
Hawkins has run for various offices on twenty-four occasions, all unsuccessfully.[7] He was New York's Green Party candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2006. In 2010, Hawkins ran as the Green Party's candidate for Governor of New York, which restored ballot status for the party when it received more than the necessary 50,000 votes. In 2014, Hawkins ran again for the same office and received five percent of the vote. Hawkins ran a third time for Governor of New York in 2018, and ran for Mayor of Syracuse in 2017.




"The two governing parties are governing over a failed state," Hawkins said Wednesday in an interview. "Look at the coronavirus. We have four percent of the world's population and 20 percent of the deaths." 
And the Green Party, he said, is still very much relevant even as a debate continues to roil the Democratic Party over how far progressives should carry the platform. Figures like Senator Bernie Sanders retain a sizeable following the party, pushing into the party's mainstream issues like universal access to Medicare. 
But Hawkins believes Sanders's impact falls short.
"He's moved the debate to the left, but not the policy," Hawkins said. "Medicare for all was his signature issue. A lot of the Democratic candidates had to relate to that. But now you've got Biden who said if it crosses my desk, I'll veto it."
Hawkins listed four "life or death issues" he's running on: The pandemic, a Green New Deal to combat climate change, fighting economic inequality through a job guarantee and fighting nuclear proliferation. 
Asked about criminal justice reform in the wake of George Floyd's killing, Hawkins said, "it's good to redistribute" some police funding to aid the homeless or drug addiction. 
He's not, however, in favor of abolishing police departments entirely. 
"You're going to need somebody, I don't care if you call them police or not, to go out and apprehend people who are dangerous," Hawkins said. 

At his Twitter feed yesterday, Howie noted that Senator Bernie Sanders is calling for a 10% reduction in Pentagon spending while the:

Green Party Prez ticket is calling for a 75% cut - not 10% -in military budget. To pay for a #GreenNewDeal that goes to 100% renewable energy by 2030, zero carbon emissions, halt to new fossil fuels, living wage jobs for all, single payer health care. Vote Green for a change.

In this community, Ann and Mike have endorsed Howie -- but they have made clear (read what they wrote) that this is not, "I'm voting Howie regardless!"  If Howie doesn't run a real campaign, they are not voting for him.  Jill Stein's campaign in 2012 was pathetic.   If you're new to that observation, see Ava and my "Let the fun begin (Ava and C.I.)" written the day after the 2012 election:



Jill Stein.

As feminists, we wondered six weeks ago, what do we do?

Roseanne had already imploded.  (Cindy Sheehan has a story to tell and then some.)  She couldn't and wouldn't campaign, she apparently wouldn't pay workers she hired for her campaign, she was an embarrassment.

And so was Jill Stein.

As feminists, do we call it as it is?

We debated that for three days.  Jill wasn't going to win the presidency.  In fact, it was obvious she was running off the limited votes she did have a shot at.

But did we tell the truth on that?  Did we call her out?

We crossed the line on gender with the decision -- a feminist one (not "the" feminist one) -- that she was running for public office and therefore had to be treated the same as anyone else would even if, in the closing weeks, we were going to tear her apart.

But . . .

Having dealt with the feminist issue, we still had the issue of third parties.

Was it really fair to beat up on a third party candidate?

Adding to the problems, one of us (Ava) is involved with a lifelong Green (Jess), has a child by him, has made a home with him.

And Jess was very clear that Jill Stein was "a f**king idiot but the Greens need to be on ballots."  And they were.  Texas, for example.  We heard from Billie who early voted for Jill Stein.  She was so excited because Jill Stein was on the ballot.  She didn't have to write her in.  Right there on the Texas ballot was the Green Party.

What do we do?

In the end, we decided, "We don't promote her.  We don't mention her.  That's true here, that's true at Third."

So we bit our tongues.

As she ran a stupid campaign.  As she made a fool of herself and the Green Party.  (Granted, it's a party that loves to make a fool of itself.)

She -- and others -- did a debate with Larry King.  A debate that did not include all.  A new hurdle was invented.

Green Party members, you know what a hurdle is, right?  It's what keeps your candidate out of the so-called presidential debates every four years.  Why the hell would you take part in a debate that did not invite everyone who made it onto a state's ballot as a presidential candidate?

Because hypocrisy is a charge you live to embrace?

Maybe so.

Supposedly the Green Party is opposed to war.

So when Tim Arango reported the White House was negotiating with Nouri to send more troops back into Iraq, Jill Stein should have led on that.

But she's a politician which is just a whore without the desire to please a customer.

So Jill ignored it.

She ignored a lot.

Six weeks ago, in fact, after Barack cratered in the first debate, she and her campaign began going after Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan.

Huh?

You're a Green.  You're on the left.  The high profile left vote getter just imploded on national TV.  It's the perfect time for you to pick up some of his voters.

But you refuse to try.  You rush to go after Romney and Ryan instead.

Why is that?

Because you are not a real party.

Because you will forever be the little sister of the Democratic Party.

Because every four years, you start off with promise and end up revealing just how craven and disgusting you are.

If we are offering commentary four years from now, please note, being a Green will not save you.  Being third party will not save you. 

So if Howie decides that the way to campaign is to come on like the kid sister of the Democratic Party, Mike and Ann are out the door.  

Journalist Chris Hedges has endorsed Howie.  The Green Party of New Jersey issued the following:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 25th, 2020
The Green Party of New Jersey is proud to announce that Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, author, and activist Chris Hedges endorsed all GPNJ candidate campaigns for 2020. They are: Howie Hawkins and Angela Walker for President and Vice-President, Madelyn Hoffman for U.S. Senate, and Craig Cayetano for Council in Ward 3 in Hawthorne.
In his letter of endorsement, Chris Hedges writes, “I endorse the Green Party campaigns of candidates Howie Hawkins for President and Angela Walker for Vice President; the campaign of Madelyn Hoffman for U.S. Senate; and the special election campaign of Craig Cayetano for town council, Ward 3, in the town of Hawthorne. These candidates embody Green Party values. They know that the mainstream political parties have not, and will not, invest in people rather than corporations. They will never reform the systems of social control embodied in the police, the war industry, and prisons.”
He continued, “These candidates are facing important deadlines for filing petitions to place them on the November ballot. They need our help in obtaining the signatures to meet election requirements…We must step outside the system, to pit power against power, as tens of thousands of courageous men and women are doing in hundreds of American cities. This process of radical change will not be easy. It will not happen quickly or in one election cycle. It is a process, especially given the ecocide and corporate serfdom that confronts us, that we must embrace as a moral imperative. Voting is a small part of this process, but it sends an important signal to the ruling elites that their time is up, or soon to be up. We must stop fearing them. They must start fearing us.”
Madelyn Hoffman faces a July 6th deadline (technically July 7th at 4pm) for submitting signatures. Her petitions can be signed  on-line here: www.hoffmanforsenate.com/petition. Anyone eligible to vote in New Jersey who has not signed another petition for U.S. Senate may sign this petition.
Craig Cayetano faces the same deadline for submitting signatures. His signatures can be submitted on-line here: https://www.cayetano4council.com/candidate_petition  To sign for Cayetano, you must live in the third ward of Hawthorne.
Howie Hawkins and Angela Walker have until July 26th, 2020 (technically July 27th at 4:00pm) to submit their petitions. Anyone in New Jersey eligible to vote who has not signed anyone else’s petition for President, can sign these petitions. Please help these Green Party candidates get on the ballot in November so they can carry this fight to the voting booth.
The link for electronic signatures for the Hawkins for President campaign is: hawkins20.us/njpetition.
Continued Hedges, “Our enemy is the tiny cabal of corporate oligarchs who have seized control of the two ruling parties, the three branches of government, the media, academia, our health services, and the economy. They have usurped our rights to exclusively serve corporate profit. This is especially true in New Jersey, which has one of the most corrupt Democratic Party machines in the nation.”
He concludes, “Thank you for supporting the Green Party. The Green Party and its candidates stand unequivocally with those in the streets fighting institutionalized racism and those organizing strikes and work stoppages among frontline workers. The party seeks to express and honor the aspirations of those leading the current generational and class revolt shaking the foundations of New Jersey, the nation, and the world.”


Gloria La Riva is a presidential nominee.  She's running for the Party for Socialism and Liberation as well as for the Peace and Freedom Party.




There are two other people who have their party's presidential nomination.


Joseph Kishore is the Socialist Equality Party's presidential candidate.


And Jo Jorgesen is the Libertarian Party's presidential nominee.






Turning to Iraq where Turkey continues to terrorize the Iraqi people. 



Call it Operation Claw-Eagle, call it Operation Claw-Tiger, it's terrorism under any name.  Turkey is violating international law and it is violating Iraq's sovereignty.  This morning, ALJAZEERA reports:

On Thursday evening, a Turkish strike hit a pickup truck in a rural area north of the Kurdish city of Sulaymaniyah, said local official Kameran Abdallah.
"It killed one man who was in the car," said Abdallah, without being able to specify whether the victim was a civilian or fighter. "The six wounded consisted of two women, two children and two men, all members of the same family."
On Friday, Baghdad issued a statement calling on Turkey to end its breach of Iraqi airspace and sovereignty, in which a number of civilians were killed, according to local media reports. 
"These actions are a flagrant violation of the principle of good neighbourliness, and a clear violation of international agreements," said the statement issued by Iraq's presidential office.
Since "Claw-Tiger" began, at least five civilians have been killed and hundreds of families have fled their homes.


The Socialist Alliance of Australia condemns the Turkish state’s escalation of illegal cross border air strikes against Kurdish and Yezidi communities in northern Iraq and north-east Syria (Rojava).
We call upon the Australian government to immediately convey the strongest objection to these raids to the Turkish Ambassador to Australia and to recall the Australian Ambassador to Turkey as an act of protest. The Australian government should also call upon NATO and the UN Security Council to act immediately to stop this aggression and to terminate all military aid and supply to Turkey.
The Socialist Alliance extends its unconditional solidarity to the victims of this Turkish military aggression and pledges to continue to build solidarity actions in Australia.
June 26, 2020
The Socialist Alliance is not the only one calling out Turkey's actions.  Christian Peacemaker Teams, USCIRF, the Arab League, the UAE, Egypt and Saudi Arabia have all condemned the actions of the Turkish government.   RUDAW reports that the PUK political party has also called out the Turkish government:

The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party (PUK) has called the Thursday bombing of the Kuna Masi resort a violation of Iraq’s sovereignty, attributing the unclaimed attack to Turkey, and calling on the Iraq’s presidencies to respond “urgently”.

The PUK bloc in Iraqi parliament issued a statement Friday regarding the airstrike of the Kuna Masi resort in Sharbazhir town in northeastern of Sulaimani province, in which one unidentified fighter was killed and six civilians were injured, according to Shaho Osman, head of Sharbazhir town told Rudaw on Thursday.

An unknown warplane conducted an airstrike targeted Kuna Masi tourist resort in northeastern Sulaimani province on Thursday killed at least one unidentified fighter, and wounded six civilians.

“Continuous violation of Turkish warplanes to the Iraqi sovereignty is a clear disrespect to the formal memorandum the Iraqi government handed over to the Turkish ambassador,” the statement reads.

The PUK bloc also called on the Iraqi Foreign Ministry and the Iraqi representative to the United Nations Security Council to request the convening of an emergency Security Council session to suspend the Turkish military operations inside Iraqi territory and issue a resolution to compensate the families of civilians who have been killed by the military operation.



Other news out of Iraq involves a raid.



AFP reports, "Iraqi security forces arrested more than a dozen pro-Iran fighters overnight, in their first raid against those accused of anti-US rocket attacks, Iraqi officials told AFP early Friday.  Elite fighters from Iraq’s Counter-Terrorism Service raided a headquarters in southern Baghdad used by Kataeb Hezbollah, a pro-Iran faction also identified as Brigade 45 of the Hashed al-Shaabi military forces." Mina Aldroubi (THE NATIONAL) adds:

 Jaber Al Jaberi, an Iraqi member of parliament, told The National that the CTS raid on Kataib Hezbollah was an attempt to exert state authority and a test to see what the reaction might be.
“Indeed the reaction by the so-called axis of resistance was strong, where their armed and hysterical response revealed a lot about them, their capabilities and their non-compliance with the laws of the state,” Mr Al Jaberi said.    



Al Jazeera's Simona Foltyn, reporting from Baghdad, said Iraq's elite Counter Terrorism Service seized at least 10 rockets during the operation, which was "carried out an in effort to pre-empt an impending rocket attack on the Green Zone and Baghdad International Airport, both of which house US troops".
"Subsequently, dozens of armed Kataib Hezbollah fighters arrived in the Green Zone and laid siege to one of the buildings belonging to the Counter Terrorism Service, demanding the release of the detainees, claiming they were arrested illegally without an arrest warrant," she said.


Let's wind down with this:

We are so excited to announce the launch of Ms. magazine's very first podcast, On the Issues with Michele Goodwin! 
You read Ms. online and in print. You follow along on social media. Now, keep up with the feminist movement and even more of Ms.’s substantive, unique reporting with your new favorite podcast. 
Tune in for our premiere episode on Tuesday, June 30 on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or MsMagazine.com
Get a sneak peek of the feminist analysis, insightful conversations and exciting guests to come: a trailer is available now! We hope you’ll give it a listen, subscribe and rate the podcast. 
On the Issues is a show where we report, rebel, and tell it like it is. Join host Dr. Michele Goodwin as she and special guests tackle the most compelling issues of our times, centering your concerns about rebuilding our nation and advancing the promise of equality. 
Listen to a trailer for On the Issuewith Michele Goodwin now — on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
And we’d love if you help spread the word, too! The number one thing you can do to help the Ms. magazine podcast reach new listeners? Subscribe and rate the podcast on Apple. Let’s show the power of independent, feminist media! 
Meet Your On the Issues Host: Dr. Michele Goodwin is a frequent contributor to Ms. magazine and on MsMagazine.com. She is a Chancellor’s Professor at the University of California, Irvine and also serves on the executive committee and national board of the ACLU. Dr. Goodwin is a prolific author and an elected member of the American Law Institute, as well as an elected Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and the Hastings Center. Her most recent book, Policing The Womb: Invisible Women and The Criminalization of Motherhood, is described as a "must read."
Tune in Tuesday, June 30 for the first episode of On the Issues with Michele Goodwin—Policing in America: A Tale of Race, Sex and Violence. Professor Goodwin and her guests will ask critical questions like: where are the women in the field of policing? And why does it matter?
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The following sites updated:






Friday, June 26, 2020

There is a nominee

The Green Party has their presidential nominee: Howie Hawkins.



He has secured the delegates and he is the candidate.

Greg Blade offers his take.




I plan to vote for Howie.  That can change if he does not fight for the votes.  I don't want a pretend campaign.  I also don't want Howie to spend one minute of his campaign arguing in favor of Joe Biden.  That's not what the Green Party's about. 


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


Thursday, June 25, 2020.  MSNBC trots out a War Criminal, Iraq's government still at a loss on how to diversify economy, and much more.

Are all the War Criminals supporting Joe Biden?  It certainly seems that way -- neocons and War Criminals.  If you missed it, MSNBC NEWS GUTTER reported this week:


When it came to Donald Trump's presidency, retired Army Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez bit his tongue for years. Every time Trump took another step the retired general found offensive -- the attack on Muslim Gold Star parents, Charlottesville, DACA, et al. -- Sanchez restrained himself and made no public comments.
This month's developments, including the Lafayette Square scandal, led him to believe he had to step up and speak up. 

That's from Rachel Maddow's staff.  Remember boys and girls, if it's about gay rights, Rachel's strong.  If it's about anything else?  She can't be trusted.


Who is Ricardo?  Well first, let's note he was a Lt Gen and let's point out Ruth's "NN and NPR parade their bias against General Flynn" which notes NPR and CNN are happy to call everyone by their military title they retired at -- even David Petraeus -- except retired Gen Michael Flynn.  Are we not supposed to notice that?

And are we not supposed to note who Rachel Maddow's team is now pimping?  Here's a little backstory on Ricardo that Steven Benen leaves out:

Sánchez was commander of coalition forces during a period when abuse of prisoners occurred at Abu Ghraib and at other locations. In a memo signed by General Sánchez and later acquired by the ACLU through a Freedom of Information Act request, techniques were authorized to interrogate prisoners, included "environmental manipulation" such as making a room hot or cold or using an "unpleasant smell", isolating a prisoner, disrupting normal sleep patterns and "convincing the detainee that individuals from a country other than the United States are interrogating him."[3]
On May 5, 2006, Sánchez denied ever authorizing interrogators to "go to the outer limits". Sánchez said he had told interrogators: "...we should be conducting our interrogations to the limits of our authority." Sanchez called the ACLU: "...a bunch of sensationalist liars, I mean lawyers, that will distort any and all information that they get to draw attention to their positions."[4]
Documents obtained by The Washington Post and the ACLU showed that Sanchez authorized the use of military dogs, temperature extremes, reversed sleep patterns, and sensory deprivation as interrogation methods in Abu Ghraib.[5] A November 2004 report by Brigadier General Richard Formica found that many troops at the Abu Ghraib prison had been following orders based on a memorandum from Sanchez, and that the abuse had not been carried out by isolated "criminal" elements.[6] ACLU lawyer Amrit Singh said in a statement from the union that "General Sanchez authorized interrogation techniques that were in clear violation of the Geneva Conventions and the army's own standards."[7]

That's from WIKIPEDIA.  Sanchez should be in prison for what he did.  Leave it to the always oblivious Rachel Maddow to pimp Ricardo as someone we need to hear from, as someone who's opinion on anything matters.

Lives were destroyed at Abu Ghraib.  What took place was outrageous and it was criminal -- War Crimes.  

The 'resistance' is a joke and always will be because they have no ethics, they have no knowledge, and they blindly root for whatever con man stands in front of them at the moment -- be it Michael Avenatti or Ricardo.  Of course, Ricardo's much worse than con man Avenatti, Ricardo's a War Criminal.  Shame on anyone who tries to rehabilitate him.

You have ethics or you don't.

You care about human lives or you don't.

This is not something where you can be "yes and" on it.  People were tortured because of Sanchez.  Sy Hersh has stated repeatedly that Iraqis were raped at Abu Ghraib.

Shame on anyone celebrating Ricardo for anything.  He belongs behind bars.  If there's an afterlife, you can be sure that he will be soundly punished.  He is not 'fixable,' he is not 'redeamable.'  He is a War Criminal.

From a November 2007 column by Amy Goodman entitled "Have They No Shame?":

 This past Saturday the Democrats chose retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez to give their response, the same general accused in at least three lawsuits in the U.S. and Europe of authorizing torture and cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment of prisoners in Iraq. This, combined with the Democrats’ endorsement of Attorney General Michael Mukasey despite his unwillingness to label waterboarding as torture, indicates that the Democrats are increasingly aligned with President Bush’s torture policies.
Sanchez headed the Army’s operations in Iraq from June 2003 to June 2004. In September 2003, Sanchez issued a memo authorizing numerous techniques, including “stress positions” and the use of “military working dogs” to exploit “Arab fear of dogs” during interrogations. He was in charge when the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison occurred.
Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski, who headed Abu Ghraib at the time, worked under Gen. Sanchez. She was demoted to colonel, the only military officer to be punished. She told me about another illegal practice, holding prisoners as so-called ghost detainees: “We were directed on several occasions through Gen. [Barbara] Fast or Gen. Sanchez. The instructions were originating at the Pentagon from Secretary Rumsfeld, and we were instructed to hold prisoners without assigning a prisoner number or putting them on the database, and that is contrary to the Geneva Conventions. We all knew it was contrary to the Geneva Conventions.” In addition to keeping prisoners off the database there were other abuses, she said, like prison temperatures reaching 120 to 140 degrees, dehydration and the order from Gen. Geoffrey Miller to treat prisoners “like dogs.”

Again, there's a side.  You are responsible for torture?  You belong in prison.  It says a great deal about THE ATLANTIC -- and about Rachel Maddow -- that they rush to embrace Ricardo.

Grasp that Ricardo's not even offering anything.

He thinks Donald Trump is a racist?  Oh, wow, that's an opinion no one's ever expressed before, right?  Let's forget that Ricardo is a War Criminal because he's got this brand new idea that no one else ever had before, he's detected something no one else could!!!!

What a load of rubbish.

Iraq has many problems -- most of them created by Ricardo and people like Ricardo.  Their economy remains in turmoil.  Maya Gebeily (AFP) reports:


So if they need reform, that would mean diversifying the economy.  There was a period, for example, in the early years of the war, when efforts were made to help with the date farm sector   I knocked it at the time and got a nasty e-mail from a US military official.  I knocked the fact that it wasn't a serious effort and it wasn't fixing anything.

We haven't checked on the date farm sector since Bully Boy Bush left the White House.  Was I right?  Was I wrong?


Iraq is to plant 70,000 date palms south of Baghdad, hoping to revive production of a crop it was famed for across the Middle East.
The country once produced three-quarters of the world’s dates but now accounts for just 5 percent after it switched its economic focus to oil and after decades of conflict devastated its farms.
Backed by a state loan worth 10 billion dinars($8.43 million), a Shi’ite Muslim foundation has planted 16,000 date trees outside the holy city of Kerbala, some 90 kilometers (56 miles) south of the capital Baghdad. It is the biggest state-backed farming project for the crop since the U.S. invasion toppling Saddam Hussein in 2003.
“We plan to have more than 70,000 date trees in future,” said Faiz Eissa Abu Maali, the project’s manager, during a tour.

So that was 2018?  Here's a video report from 2018.



So the US tossed some money at the problem and then Barack Obama became president for two terms and then left office and Donald Trump was then president and that's when the Iraqi government decided, "Hey, maybe that project that all the money was spent on over a decade ago, maybe even though we ignored it and didn't fund it when it needed it, maybe we should try to kick start it again?"

Nothing changes because nothing changes.
The money -- US taxpayer money -- tossed out in the early years of the war for the date farming was a waste of money.  That had nothing to do with Iraqi farmers, it had everything to do with a corrupt government that provided no support and continues to provide no support.

How many years is it going to take for that reality to set in?  In 2018, MIDDLE EAST EYE noted:
 The blazing sun beats down on Mohammed Khalil Ibrahim as he points to what is left of his date palms and the damage caused by a scarcity in water. Bent over his cane on his farm in the Iraqi southern city of Basra, the 73-year-old farmer describes how they are sad examples of the fruit-bearing tree. 
“You see the trunks, they're too thin. And the dates my trees produce are barely edible," said Ibrahim.
The Ibrahim family have been farmers for three generations. Back in the 80s, the family owned around 50,000 date palm trees in the city of Basra. Today, only a few thousand trees have survived the drought and salinity and none of Ibrahim’s sons want to take over the farm since it is no longer profitable. 
“Many neighbouring farmers give up and look for work in the cities," Ibrahim said.
Once a water-rich country, Iraq is facing drought, a significant drop in annual rainfall, salinity and a decline in the level of water flowing into the country, following the construction of major dams in Turkey and Iran since the 1970s.
Additionally, a lack of funds targeting the agricultural sector is preventing the development of Iraq's infrastructure. Basra, now a crumbling city, was once dubbed the "Venice of the Middle East" for its network of canals.
Real steps have to be taken and they have not been.  Iraqi leaders like Nouri al-Maliki have enriched themselves by stealing the public funds.  



  • Iran is pressing Iraq to expand its already game-changing oil and gas infrastructure deal with China.
  • Tehran is looking to include Iraq in the Sino-Russian power bloc in order to expand its influence in the oil-rich country.
  • Chinese money, equipment and technology should, Baghdad and Tehran think, allow Iraq to gradually increase its oil production to the 7 million bpd targeted by end-2022.


The above could be very good for Iraq's economy, if they made the deal with China and if they used money (profits) to invest into diversifying the economic base.  But they've refused to do that.  The prime minister focuses on what foreign governments want -- the US or Iran mainly -- and stick their hands into the people's money.  


Let's turn to the topic of the coronavirus.




MENAFM notes, "The daily tally of cases has been rising since the holy month of Ramadan and as many Iraqis flout coronavirus lockdown measures."  XINHUA notes, "The Iraqi health ministry on Wednesday warned of serious health situation, as it recorded 2,200 new COVID-19 cases, the highest daily increase since the outbreak of the disease, bringing the total number of infections nationwide to 36,702.  The ministry also confirmed 79 more deaths, raising the death toll from the infectious virus to 1,330 in the country." 
 
The minister's statement came during a press briefing along with and after a meeting with the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, and the World Health Organization (WHO) representative to Iraq, Adham Rashad.
From her end, Hennis-Plasschaert warned against the lack of adherence to health regulations that are aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus.
"We must commit to fighting the spread of the Coronavirus at all levels, primarily through the individual actions of each of us," said Hennis-Plasschaert.
"The local, regional and national health authorities, as well as friends and partners of Iraq, have warned of great consequence in case of taking the virus lightly," she added. "[W]e cannot exaggerate the seriousness of the situation, but fear and misinformation is no less dangerous," stressing the need for "resistance with courage, sound information, practical advice and collective discipline."
Meanwhile Zhelwan Z. Wali (RUDAW) reports that  Sulaimani Province's Health Dept spokesperson Dr Yad Naqishbandi has declared that he has the coronavirus and that, "My health is good and I have quarantined myself at home."  And Hardi Mohammed (RUDAW) reports:

Photos of a coronavirus patient lying on the ground unattended in a Kirkuk hospital have angered his family, who demand answers about the treatment of the man, who later died on Tuesday.
The disturbing photos circulating on social media in recent days appear to show Najat Rasheed, 57, lying on the ground meters away from a bed and an overturned chair. No hospital staff are seen in the photos, and it’s not known who is responsible for taking the photos.

Rasheed, who is Kurdish, had served as a medical worker in the city for 12 years. He was hospitalized in two separate hospitals for 13 days, but died on Tuesday. His son, Sirwan Najat, remained in contact with his father via their mobile phones while he was hospitalized. After losing contact with him Thursday night Sirwan visited the hospital and found his father abandoned. The next morning, he was pronounced dead.

“My father could not breathe. At 7 am I called to ask the medical personnel of the hospital whether he was alive or not. The doctor said that he would check on him, but he came at 10am," he told Rudaw on Wednesday. "They did not serve him at all," Najat says. 
  

The following sites updated:






Wednesday, June 24, 2020

Howie has to be a better candidate



That's Dave calling Howie Hawkins out.

I was going to write about this -- and probably will a little -- but I see Mike's covered it with "Howie needs to be better."

I agree 100% with what Mike is saying.

Howie's talking about running to get 5% of the vote.

I am supporting Howie Hawkins in the Green Party's presidential primary.  If he gets the nomination, I plan to vote for him.

Plan to.

I can change my mind.

I was supporting Dario Hunter.  Dario didn't run a real campaign.  He refused to use social media to get the word out. 

I get what Howie's saying.  He's talking about the need to build the party.

That's realistic.  Good.

But if he can't even envision a win?  He's not the candidate.  If you can't dream big, how can you lead?  If you can't envision real victory, how can you make the world better?  He needs to be out there fighting for every damn vote there is.

And we need to demand that he does just that.

If I wanted to lie and cover for a politician, I'd support Joe Biden.

We need to demand that Howie is a better candidate.  And if he can't be, we withhold our vote.

Love what Mike wrote and I love Mike.  This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"


Wednesday, June 24, 2020.  Mustafa al-Kahimi plans to visit the US in July, Turkey continues bombing Iraq, RISING is trying to do what exactly?, and much more.

The biggest news out of Iraq today?  That the prime minister is coming to the United States.  Lawk Ghafuri (RUDAW) reports:

Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi will visit Washington next month to attend high-level talks between the United States and Iraq, foreign minister Fuad Hussein revealed on Tuesday.
Kadhimi's visit will begin the second round of strategic dialogue talks between the US and Iraq that are the first of their kind in more than a decade. They aim to put all bilateral issues on the table, including the faltering Iraqi economy and the possible withdrawal of US troops.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on April 8 that the US and Iraq plan to hold meetings starting in mid-June to discuss several matters, including “the future presence of the United States forces in [the] country and how best to support an independent and sovereign Iraq,” Pompeo said at a Washington press briefing on April 8.
Hussein revealed the planned visit to Washington while receiving UN envoy Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert in Baghdad on Tuesday to discuss the strategic dialogue, among other topics.
The most obvious issue this raises is: Optics.  Iraq is struggling with the coronavirus.  Every day seems to bring a new high in the numbers of reported cases and reported dead.  

President Donald Trump has unwisely gone around without any form of mask.  Will Mustafa wear a mask?  If he doesn't, he'll be refusing to curry favor with Donald.  He'll also be sending a lousy message to the Iraqi people. So the most interesting thing about the visit may be the photographs which inform us whether or not Mustafa wears a mask.

Should Mustafa not wear a mask, you can expect this statement he Tweeted to be thrown in his face:

Ahmed Radhi passed away wearing the green jersey, which we all loved watching him wear. May he rest in peace. The life of every Iraqi is precious. Let’s adhere to health precautions to protect ourselves and our communities, until we get through this difficult time together.
5:59 AM · Jun 21, 2020

Ahmed Radhi is the football legend who passed away days ago from the coronavirus.  

Second, this is a rather quick meeting.  May 7th, Mustafa became prime minister.  Two months later he'll be in DC with the President of the United States. 

Some administrations (Barack Obama's) would wait a bit to see where the prime minister stands.  But Mustafa is supposed to be a brief prime minister so there's really not any time to wait -- especially if you need to figure out how many US troops you're going to leave in Iraq while claiming another "withdrawal."  The US Defense Dept refused to call the end of 2011 a "withdrawal" because it wasn't a withdrawal.  They called it a draw down.  That had to do with the reality -- which the late Senator Kay Hagan explained in an open hearing and we reported on it in real time.  THE NEW YORK TIMES, among others, were more concerned with whether or not John McCain had hurt Leon Panetta's feelings.  Excuse me, they were more concerned with creating a story that Leon's feelings were hurt by John.  That was not the case and that was clear by the second hour of that hearing but if NYT couldn't lie to the American people, it wouldn't have survived this long.  (That's the really US press story -- from THE HOUSTON POST to MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS, tell the truth and disappear.)  

Barack just ignored the Defense Dept's use of "drawdown."  Donald's much more confrontational.  If he's using "withdrawal" and it's actually a drawdown (meaning troops remain in Iraq and in surrounding areas like Kuwait -- prepared to re-enter), is Donald going to start firing people?

Again, the meeting is happening quickly.  Donald's going to spend some of his political capital on this visit and he's prepared to do so because he wants a drawdown.  (If Donald secures a withdrawal, we will gladly note that and I will gladly credit it but too many politicians have lied about ending the Iraq War and we'll play wait and see.)  But how much is too much to spend?

Because Mustafa's already struggling with being perceived as weak and ineffective.  It took months for Adel Abdul Mahdi to earn that reputation but Mustafa's got it fresh out of the gate.


First clear constitutional violation by Mustafa al-Kadhimi’s new government: the removal of the Kurdish language from official documents and papers in breach of Article 4 which declares Kurdish as an official language of Iraq




#Corruption become more dangerous and deadly, in #Iraq , with Mustafa Al-Kadhimi taking over as prime minister. Weak personalities, easy to manipulate from Iranian militias like Hashd . #coronavirus



Weak personalities?  Mustafa has yet to call out the Turkish government for terrorizing Iraq.  Why is that?


Turkish President congratulates Iraq’s new Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi. Turkey’s National Defence Minister Hulusi Akar also talked with Kadhimi via phone according to official stament of Iraq. *#NOTE: Turkey fully supported his efforts of becoming PM of Iraq.


Long seen by the Iranian government as a tool of the US, Mustafa also has some pretty close ties to Turkey.



 The geopolitics are complex, but they are also crude. Turkey has clout; President ErdoÄŸan has several cards to play.
Card one: refugees. Turkey is host to 3.5 million refugees, many of whom would rather go to Europe. For ErdoÄŸan they are a weapon that can be unleashed at any time on the EU and its neighbours. The countries of Europe have domestic, populist, political imperatives for keeping migrants out that trump humanitarian (and economic) reasons for letting them in.
Card two: Turkey is a powerful member of NATO, with the second-largest army of all members and housing 50 US nuclear bombs. It’s the world’s fifth-largest buyer of arms, 60 per cent coming from the US and plenty from the UK, France, Spain and Russia.
Turkey also invests lavishly in lobbying power, spending $6.6 million on influencing the US government in 2018. It is seen as a tricky but strategic ally in the US’s so-called ‘war on terror’ – even though it is supporting jihadist militants with al-Qaeda connections.
Card three: Turkey has nation-state power. Nation states have a mutual understanding. They can have their own armies, without being called terrorists. They can lock up journalists and political opponents, and still be welcome at the table of world democracies. They can displace thousands of citizens and still be courted as a valuable trading partner.


Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein on Tuesday renewed his country's rejection and condemnation of the Turkish attacks on targets in northern Iraq.
Hussein's comments came during his meeting with the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Iraq Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert in his office in the Foreign Ministry at the edge of the Green Zone in central Baghdad, a ministry statement said.
Hussein underlined the need "to stop such violations by the Turkish side, considering the attacks as violating the international covenants and laws," the statement said.
Also on Iraq, MEMO notes:

The Iraqi government is currently preparing for “early legislative elections” to complete the country’s sustainable constitutional establishment, Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, announced yesterday.
Speaking in a meeting with the United Nations Special Representative for Iraq, Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, Al-Kadhimi said that it is “important to have international support and cooperation in the preparation phase.”

That's what Mustafa is supposed to preside over and why he was made prime minister.  These elections will determine not only who serves in Parliament but also who will be prime minister.

In the US?  What is the value of RISING?  Watch the clip below and answer that please.



The rolled eyes and the snarky tones from Krystal?  Does she think she has a high horse to ride?  She doesn't.  Why the hell are they mentioning Philippe Reines?  If there's a reason to mention that vile man, it's to educate your audience.  Reines had harassment complaints against him when he worked under Hillary at the State Dept and Michael Hastings threw that up in his face.  If you're going to talk about the priss-pot, talk about him.  He's a menace and that's the only reason to mention him.

Second, this whole thing about Bernie and his supporters?  What supporters?

He betrayed them and most are gone.  If you're truly a news outlet, Krystal act like you're part of one.  That means making clear that Bernie doesn't 'own' people.  There were people who supported the ideas and the platform he ran on.  Then the coward dropped out.  Then the coward endorsed Joe Biden.  Bernie has nothing to command and it's stupid to think he does.  





We'll close with this news from MS. MAGAZINE:



We are so excited to announce the launch of Ms. magazine's very first podcast, On the Issues with Michele Goodwin! 
You read Ms. online and in print. You follow along on social media. Now, keep up with the feminist movement and even more of Ms.’s substantive, unique reporting with your new favorite podcast. 
Tune in for our premiere episode on Tuesday, June 30 on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or MsMagazine.com
Get a sneak peek of the feminist analysis, insightful conversations and exciting guests to come: a trailer is available now! We hope you’ll give it a listen, subscribe and rate the podcast. 
On the Issues is a show where we report, rebel, and tell it like it is. Join host Dr. Michele Goodwin as she and special guests tackle the most compelling issues of our times, centering your concerns about rebuilding our nation and advancing the promise of equality. 
Listen to a trailer for On the Issuewith Michele Goodwin now — on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
And we’d love if you help spread the word, too! The number one thing you can do to help the Ms. magazine podcast reach new listeners? Subscribe and rate the podcast on Apple. Let’s show the power of independent, feminist media! 
Meet Your On the Issues Host: Dr. Michele Goodwin is a frequent contributor to Ms. magazine and on MsMagazine.com. She is a Chancellor’s Professor at the University of California, Irvine and also serves on the executive committee and national board of the ACLU. Dr. Goodwin is a prolific author and an elected member of the American Law Institute, as well as an elected Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and the Hastings Center. Her most recent book, Policing The Womb: Invisible Women and The Criminalization of Motherhood, is described as a "must read."
Tune in Tuesday, June 30 for the first episode of On the Issues with Michele Goodwin: Police Violence — A Tale of Two Genders. Professor Goodwin and her guests will ask critical questions like: where are the women in the field of policing? And why does it matter?
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