Cedric's Big Mix: 2014-03-09

Saturday, March 15, 2014

Barry O's the hottest bitch in this place

BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE

FADED CELEBRITY IN CHIEF BARRY O TOOK TO CELEBRITY COUNSELOR RYAN SEACREST TO EXPLAIN THE NATION'S BIGGEST CONCERN.

"I'VE BEEN UNFAIRLY MALIGNED ABOUT MY JEANS," WHIMPERED STARLET BARRY O. "THE TRUTH IS, GENERALLY I LOOK VERY SHARP IN JEANS."
IN AN ATTEMPT TO CHEER UP BARRY O, RYAN IMMEDIATELY STARTED SINGING:

WHAT DO THEY MAKE DREAMS FOR
WHEN YOU GOT THEM JEANS ON
WHAT DO WE NEED STEAM FOR
YOU THE HOTTEST BITCH IN THIS PLACE

WIPING HIS TEARS AWAY, A GRACIOUS BARRY O MOUTHED "THANK YOU SO MUCH."

FROM THE TCI WIRE:

Last Saturday, Iraqi women protested in Baghdad against Nouri al-Maliki's proposed bill which would allow father's to marry off daughters as young as nine-years-old, strip away the need for consent to sex, and would strip custodial rights from mothers. The US press has worked overtime to ignore the protest and the bill Nouri's sent to Parliament. Today, it finally got some attention in the US press.

Lauren Cox (Hollywood Life) notes the bill and a detail everyone else (including me) has missed:

Iraq is seriously considering passing a new law called Jaafari Personal Status Law which would allow girls as young as 8-years-old to legally marry. The law itself actually reads girls age 9, but because Iraq follows the lunar Islamic calendar their age 9 actually equals the age of 8 years and 8 months. The law also mentions this is the same age that girls reach puberty. Is this their justification for allowing such young girls to be forced into marriage?
Making matters even worse, the same reads that a husband can have sex with his wife with or without her consent. This means that if an 8-year-old gets married, she could raped by her husband and it would not be illegal.

Cheryl K. Chumley (Washington Times) adds, "One more aspect of the proposal that’s angered many: It only gives the father -- not the mother or female guardian -- the right to refuse to accept a marriage proposal." Brittany Greenquist (RYOT News) observes, "Sadly, the law doesn’t stop with child brides and marital rape, it also adds increased restrictions to a woman’s ability to leave her house, and would make it easier for men to have more than one wife."

The Associated Press' Sameer N. Yacoub and Sinan Salaheddin offer a lengthy report which includes: "Also under the proposed measure, a husband can have sex with his wife regardless of her consent. The bill also prevents women from leaving the house without their husband's permission, would restrict women's rights in matters of parental custody after divorce and make it easier for men to take multiple wives."

Many outlets are carrying the AP report including Huffington Post, The Australian, The Daily Beast, WA Today, Savannah Morning News, San Francisco Chronicle, the Seattle Times, News 24, Daily Inter Lake, the Scotland Herald, Sydney Morning Herald, Singapore Today, the Irish Independent, The Scotsman, Lebanon's Daily Star, The Belfast Telegraph and Canada's CBC. UPI covers the issue by noting Felicity Arbuthnot's article from earlier in the week.

The bill is illegal by the Iraqi Constitution. It's offensive and offensive to the world. The brave Iraqi women who protested Saturday deserved and deserve support.

Nouri's asked his flunkies to stage rallies in support of the illegal bill.

As the West remained silent.

Nouri had the most success in Najaf on Wednesday when nearly a hundred women demonstrated in favor of this offensive bill while about 40 demonstrated in Basra. The women were mocked -- and deserved to be, let's not pretend otherwise -- and ridiculed in Arabic social media. Which may be why all the efforts that followed had poor turnout. Iraq Times notes a little over a dozen women turned out in Maysan today to insist the bill be turned into a law, close to 30 women turned out in Dhi Qar and a little over 20 turned out in Baghdad today whining for their rights and their daughters rights to be stripped away.

If you put it all together, the numbers from today with the numbers earlier in the week, you still don't have even half as many women as turned out to protest the law in Baghdad.

But that Nouri could scare up these 'support rallies' at all?

That goes to the refusal of the Western media to cover this issue and to make it clear that it was illegal and unacceptable.

Marie Harf is a US State Dept spokesperson. She presided over today's press briefing (yes, State finally gave a briefing on Friday). Said Arikat, Al Quds bureau chief, raised the issue of the proposed law.

Said Arikat: Yeah. Iraq?

MS. HARF: Mm-hmm.

Said Arikat: Are you aware of a law that allows parent – fathers or guardians to marry off their 9-year-old girls?

MS. HARF: Yes.

Said Arikat: And what is your comment on that?

MS. HARF: This is a draft law. We understand that this draft law, which I think several high-level Iraqi political and religious leaders have publicly condemned and claim violates the rights of Iraqi women – has been sent to the council of representatives for consideration. We absolutely share the strong concerns of the UN mission in Iraq, which has noted that this law risks constitutionally protected rights for women. The draft law I think is pending before the parliament right now. It would require three readings before a vote could take place, so we’ll obviously be watching the debate closely and welcome a parliamentary process that ensures the rights of all Iraqis, including women, are fully protected in line with its constitution.

And I would also note that some women’s groups, some human rights NGOs, have also condemned the draft law as a significant step backwards for women’s rights in Iraq.

When a group in a country is being targeted, if the world rallies to call it out, it can have an impact. By the same token, silence only endorses and embraces the targeting. Human Rights Watch deserves strong credit for weighing in earlier this week with "Iraq: Don’t Legalize Marriage for 9-Year-Olds." Suadad al-Salhy and Reuters reports deserve credit for being the only Western outlet to grasp last Sautrday this was serious and news. (Yes, I know AFP's Prashant Rao spent Saturday attempting to get a copy of the bill's text in writing. I know it, so what? AFP didn't report on it -- because Prashant couldn't get a written copy of the bill. al-Salhy and Reuters did report on the issue. So we applaud them. No applause for AFP and they should be glad that it's been too busy of a week for me to connect this to all the other silences on Iraqi women from AFP.) Iraqi media covered it and deserves credit for that. Rudaw took it seriously and did at least three stories by Tuesday on this issue so they deserve applause as well.

And we'll again note and applaud the United Nations Secretary-General's special envoy in Iraq, Nickolay Mladenov, for his Tweet last Saturday:

I'll certainly applaud the ones who showed up today.

But there should have been a lot more and it's really sad that the State Dept can't make a statement on it until they're asked about it.

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Friday, March 14, 2014

Mirror, Mirror ponders Barry O

BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE

FADED CELEBRITY BARRY O LOOKS BITCHIER EVERY DAY.

AND GROWS EVER MORE UNPOPULAR.

SPEAKING TO THESE REPORTERS THIS AFTERNOON, BARRY O BUSIED HIMSELF SMEARING VARIOUS ANTI-AGING CREAMS ACROSS HIS FACE WHILE EXCLAIMING, "LOOK AT THESE SPLOTCHES AND WRINKLES! OH, TO BE 41 JUST ONCE MORE!"

FROM THE TCI WIRE:

Poor thug Nouri al-Maliki. He has no accomplishments to point to with pride -- despite two terms as prime minister. And yet he wants a third term.

How to pose and preen before the people before the vote?

Well he could hold a meaningless 'terrorism' conference.

Before it started, there was so much hope. Aswat al-Iraq noted days ago that this "2-day conference" was one where "invitations were extended to all world countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Iran"

How quickly the hopes fade. Saudi Arabia? Qatar? Tuesday brought news on those invites:

If you ever doubted Nouri al-Maliki's ability to lead, it's on full display right now. Tomorrow is the big terrorism conference that Brett McGurk's endlessly praised Nouri for. The State Dept's Brett has praised this effort to bring the region's countries together to address the issue.
But today comes the news that two won't be participating. NINA reports Qatar and Saudi Arabia have decided not to participate. This decision comes after Saturday's broadcast of Nouri al-Maliki's interview where he slammed Qatar and Saudi Arabia repeatedly. (See Saturday's "Nouri 'celebrates' International Women's Day" and "Iraq snapshot.")
He couldn't even keep his big mouth shut until after the conference.

Wednesday, the bad news for Nouri just continued with Al Arabiya News reports, "The UAE recalled its ambassador to Iraq on Wednesday in protest against Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s accusations of Saudi Arabia that the kingdom supports terrorism." Gulf Times noted:

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Anwar Gargash handed ambassador Mowafak Mahdi Abboud a memorandum protesting Maliki’s “claims that Saudi Arabia supports terrorism,” the official Wam news agency said.

“Such remarks are false and not based on a proper assessment of the situation in the region concerning terrorism, especially as Saudi Arabia plays a significant role in combating all forms of terrorism,” said Gargash.

And Arab News reported, "Bahrain also strongly condemned Saudi bashing by Al-Maliki and his false accusations against the Kingdom."

Let's pause on Nouri's embarrassing failures and note what the conference came up with on their last day. NINA explains, "Baghdad first international anti-terrorism conference [. . .] recommended the conclusion of its works on Thursday to promote international cooperation, exchange of information, to respond to the demands of countries to handover of criminals, cooperation and take necessary measures to dying terrorism resources."

That's it?

A two-day conference and all they can come up with is: Exchange phone numbers?

Most people can accomplish that within ten minutes of entering a bar.

Two days to get digits on a cocktail napkin?

Even when you look for a Nouri success, you still come up with failure.

Yet Nouri's spokesperson Qassim Atta had insisted, "Baghdad conference of anti-terrorism will come out with the important results and recommendations to enhance the international desire to eliminate terrorism and to hold the countries supporting it." Kitabat delicately phrases the conclusion and results of the conference as "modest."

Sadly, even a modest term like "modest" is overly generous.

Let's note a speech -- or the press release on a speech. Click here for the speech in full by Nickolay Mladenov. He is United Nation's Secretary-Genral Ban Ki-Moon's envoy in Iraq. This is UNAMI's press release on Mladenov's speech:

Baghdad, 12 March 2014 – Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Iraq (SRSG), Mr. Nickolay Mladenov, today urged the political leaders of Iraq to put their differences aside and work together to address the terrorist threat that seeks to tear the fabric of Iraqi society.

At the opening of the First International Counter-Terrorism Conference that started today in Baghdad, SRSG Mladenov noted that the conference can send an important message to the public, “a message of solidarity with a nation that has shown unparalleled resilience and a continuing commitment to build a democratic state at a moment when Iraq stands at a crucial cross-road on its journey towards stability and prosperity”.
“Iraq will either succumb to violence, or come together and build a democratic state that protects human rights and is inclusive for all its citizens”, said Mr. Mladenov, adding that “finding ways to put an end to terrorism will not be easy, some difficult decisions will have to be made – but together the Government and people of Iraq, with the support of the international community, can find ways to do so”.
Mr. Mladenov expressed the United Nations’ deepest sympathy to the Iraqi people for the terrible toll that they endure on a daily basis and honored the brave men and women of the Iraqi Security Forces who risk their lives every day to protect citizens from the threat of terrorism.
He underlined that “the concept of human rights is one of the greatest assets in finding sustainable solutions to countering extremism and terrorism as well as the full community involvement in decisions relating to their security”. “Any comprehensive approach would be incomplete if it were not matched with broad political dialogue, inclusive economic and social policies and community reconciliation”, the UN Envoy noted. He also highlighted the utmost importance of “investing in police and security forces that have appropriate resources and are appropriately trained, while respecting the rule of law and human rights, in particular regarding arrests, detentions and trials”.
Moving beyond the national level, SRSG Mladenov stressed that only within the framework of constructive regional and international cooperation, fight against terrorism can succeed. He reminded the audience of the establishment in 2005 of the UN Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force (CTITF) saying that “through this Task Force the UN can assist Iraq in promoting its ability to contribute to the international effort to counter terrorism and implement the four pillars of the Global Counter Terrorism Strategy”.
In concluding, Mr. Mladenov assured the Iraqi people that they were not alone and that “UNAMI and the United Nations in Iraq would continue to work with them and their elected representatives in promoting political dialogue and investing in its biggest resource, its citizens”.

We'll note the speech in another entry -- in full -- but it's too long for this one.

It's the only speech which will get significant attention because UNAMI has released it. It won't get significant attention due to journalists hearing it in person.

See, another of Nouri's failures with this two-day conference? The press.

Ghazanfar Laibi (Al Mada) reports that journalists were prepared to cover the conference in depth but were kept out and one of the reasons given was security snags leading one journalist to call the conference the most poorly organized and worst he'd ever attended. And while kept out of the conference proper, they were given press releases with meaningless data and access -- in an area described as "a narrow box" -- to file reports in a room with no internet lines or connections. State TV, controlled by Nouri al-Maliki, Al-Iraqiya broadcast fluff. That's not surprising, Deborah Amos wrote a paper on how Nouri used Al-Iraqiya to campaign in 2010 -- to illegally campaign -- in the parliamentary elections.

Kitabat explains that while every other news outlet -- Iraqi and foreign news outlets -- was prevented from entering the main hall of the conference, Al-Iraqiya was allowed to enter and to interview various participants. Ghazzanfar Laibi adds that one journalist -- not with Al-Iraqiya -- explains that not only were the journalists prevented from entering the conference to observe it but 'photo ops'? They were all given one minute to take photos. (All except Al-Iraqiya which roamed freely.)

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Thursday, March 13, 2014

Working hard

BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE

FADED CELEBRITY IN CHIEF BARRY O HAS ENOUGH TO WORRY ABOUT ALREADY. ZACHMA -- HIS HOT AND HEAVY RELATIONSHIP WITH ZACH GALIFIANAKIS -- IS RUMORED TO HAVE ALREADY HIT THE ROCKS

NOW COMES THE LATEST WALL ST. JOURNAL - NBC POLL WHICH FINDS ONLY 41% OF AMERICANS APPROVE OF THE JOB BARRY O IS DOING.

REACHED FOR COMMENT, BARRY O HUFFED, "I'VE DONE A VIDEO WITH ZACH AND I'VE GONE SHOPPING AT THE GAP. THAT WAS SO MUCH WORK I WAS EXHAUSTED FOR THE WHOLE WEEK!"

FROM THE TCI WIRE:

Secretary of State John Kerry appeared this morning before the House Appropriations State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs Subcommittee. US House Rep Kay Granger is the Subcommittee Chair and US House Rep Nita Lowey is the Ranking Member. Kerry was the only witness as he begged for money -- tax payer money.

The theme of the hearing was: Let's All Pretend Iraq Doesn't Exist.

I was tipped off to that theme last night by a State Dept friend when I noted I was going to have to be in two places at once -- the veterans hearing and the State Dept budget hearing. "Iraq," I was told, "frankly doesn't matter to him [John Kerry] and he'll only bring it up if asked."

Looking at the roster of the Subcommittee members, it was obvious that Israel would be at least the first hour. So I attended 90 minutes of the veterans hearing (while asking a friend at Kerry's hearing to text me if Iraq came up).

It did. Briefly in Kerry's opening remarks:

We have kept our funding request in line with what was appropriated to the Department and USAID in Fiscal Year 2014 within our base request of 40.3 billion. And the additional part of our request for OCO, Overseas Contingency Operations, totals 5.9 billion. And with OCO funding, we support programs, as you know, in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, as we continue to right-size those commitments.

That one sentence was it for his opening remarks.

If you don't get how John Kerry ran from Iraq, notice what he had to say about the Syrian refugee crisis (and I'm using his prepared remarks that were marked up by my friend to note the changes between prepared and delivery):

For the Syrian people, for Lebanon, Turkey, for Jordan, coping with how to keep their societies running and keep extremists at bay while they host millions now of refugees, our support is critical to that. We’re the largest donor in the world. And that helps us, because it is critical to us that Lebanon and Jordan remain stable.

How do you talk about Syrian refugees and not note Iraq?

The only real mention of Iraq was from US House Rep Frank Wolf who kept mentioning the Iraq Study Group (which accomplished nothing, a fact Wolf misses) because he wants a Syrian Study Group and, get this, he wants US President Barack Obama to ask Bully Boy Bush to head that Syrian Study Group.

US House Rep Barbara Lee doesn't give a damn about war these days. Judging by her tired and expanding face, all she cares about is eating. She didn't even note Ukraine. I walked in when Barbara Fake Ass Lee was testifying (speechifying? It wasn't questions). I did a double take. I don't know if she's had plastic surgery or if she had just pulled her hair back to harshly but her eye brows were up at least a half inch more than usual and it really did look like a botched face lift. If so, I'm glad she found a hobby to fill her time now that she no longer uses it to call out war. And I'm especially glad she looks butt ugly. In time, you do get the face you deserve and it's sitting on her neck right now.

Prior to my arrival, the topics were (going by the texts my friend sent me and his notes) Israel, Israel, Israel, that soda boycott (which Lowey did not support), Israel, Egypt, Egypt, Israel, Ukraine, Iran, Cuba, Israel, North Korea, Venezuela -- with the exception of Israel and Egypt it was basically war requests from members of the Subcommittee -- Democrats and Republicans -- to go to war on these countries. Into that mix, Babsie Lee offered nothing on peace, just scratched herself a lot as she babbled on about Uganda (and it's LGBT issues). After I arrived? War on Argentina because they don't fulfill their debts and even more nonsense, if you can believe it. It's amazing how this Subcommittee thinks the answer to everyone of the petty grudges is to put US boots on the ground.

The US government does nothing to improve the lives of the Iraqi people -- despite the fact that billions of US tax dollars flow to Iraq for that supposed purpose.

So what does the State Dept work on?

They're lackeys for corporations. The State Dept works on debt collection -- a fact John Kerry felt was worth bragging about.

Secretary of State John Kerry: With our urging, Argentina has taken some positive steps. In October they settled a long running investment dispute with three US companies and implemented -- in January of this year -- implemented an improved inflation index in order to address inefficiencies in its IMF reporting and so forth. But we continue to urge them to fulfill their global, international responsibilities.

US House Rep Debbie Wasserman Schultz wants war on Venezuela and demonized their president right after Kerry said the Venezuelan government needed to stop demonizing people. Debbie Washerwoman needs to learn to wash that ratty, oily hair. It looks like the Exxon Valdez took a dump on her head.

Kerry pulled the little stunt he's so fond of doing since become Secretary of State -- a stunt he wouldn't have stood for as Chair of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee.

See, Secretary John is an 80s power woman in a Nolan Miller dress with bulky shoulder pads. Secretary John is not just an 80s power woman, John's an 80s super woman, rushing here, there and everywhere. It's like a bad movie and he really needs an overweight sidekick (Baraba Lee, you're being paged!) to pull it off his whole: I'm so busy, I can't stay for the full hearing, I'm just too important and too busy to appear before Congress for a full hearing. In other words, John looks like a real bitch when he pulls this.

What John forgets?

If you pretend you have to leave, then you leave. You don't insist that everyone be quick and that you'll reply in writing because you're in such a rush and then go on to yack for 7 minutes straight because you didn't like a statement a member of the Subcommittee made. He didn't like the doubts about Barack's foreign policy or Iran and felt the need to bore everyone with just how yawning inducing he can be ". . . we're helping Tunisia, we're working on Libya, I just came from a conference on Libya . . ."

Pretending, in that bitchy manner, that your time's too valuable for Congress is misguided unless you're looking to add "Bitch" to your professional title. But what's even worse is pretending you have to go and then refusing to stop speaking.

It was during this marathon jaw boning that Kerry brought up Iraq for the second time.

Secretary John Kerry: We have inspectors -- not as frequently as the other two but sufficiently - in Iraq in the plutonium reactor. They are not able to complete the plutonium reactor.

Well thank goodness for that. They're not able to complete the plutonium reactor.

Except . . .

"They" isn't Iraq.

He said "Iraq."

He meant Iran.

He didn't want to talk about Iraq and a useless Subcommittee didn't want to either.

Iraq's all over the State Dept's FY2015 budget. Let's note some of it. For the "Overseas Contingency Operations funding," the report notes:

In Iraq, OCO funding of $501.4 million supports operational requirements, movement security, equipment and associated Operation and Maintenance, physical and technical security, static guards, and security operations in Basrah and Erbil. The request is $4.4 million above the FY 2014 level and funded through Worldwide Security Protection, consistent with FY 2014 Congressional action.

That's a half billion right there on Iraq. Right there.

But the useless members of the Subcommittee wanted you to instead know that they pledge alliegence to the government of Israel, that they want war on Venezuela's democratically-elected government and that the grudge-fu**ing of Cuba will never, ever end as long as they draw breath.

A half billion's a lot. It's not all. I told another State Dept friend I was going to review the budget and he couldn't stop laughing. It's a fudged budget and it doesn't even add up on paper.

What? I was confused.

He flipped to a table in the back which notes $250 million is the amount being requested for "Foreign Military Financing" for Iraq.

I was confused still. He flipped several pages and pointed this section out to me:

The FY 2015 Foreign Military Financing (FMF) Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) request of $537 million is for Iraq and Pakistan.

Pakistan ($280 million): Given the ongoing transition in Afghanistan and continued terrorist attacks against civilian and military targets throughout Pakistan, FMF is essential to Pakistan’s efforts to increase stability in its western border region and ensure overall stability within its own borders. The $280 million Pakistan request will enhance the Pakistan Army, Frontier Corps, Air Force, and Navy’s ability to conduct counterinsurgency (COIN) and counterterrorism (CT) operations against militants throughout its borders, especially in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, improve Pakistan’s ability to deter threats emanating from those areas, and encourage continued U.S.-Pakistan military-to-military engagement. FMF will continue to focus on seven priority areas identified and agreed to with the Government of Pakistan, including precision strike; air mobility and combat search and rescue; counter-improvised explosive devise and battlefield survivability; battlefield communications; night operations; border security; and maritime security/counternarcotics in support of CT aims.

Iraq ($267 million): The $257 million requested for Iraq in FY 2015 broadly focuses on helping the Iraqis improve the capability and professionalism of their military and builds upon the efforts made since 2003 by the U.S. military, coalition forces, and Iraqi military operations and initiatives. Of the Iraq request, $7 million will fund administrative costs associated with the Office of Security Cooperation in Iraq, which also supports implementation of Iraq’s own significant and ongoing purchases through the Foreign Military Sales program. FMF will help ensure that a strong U.S.-Iraq relationship is in place as Iraq continues to rely on its own fiscal resources to contribute to peace and security in the region. The program will focus on the development of enduring logistics capabilities and institutions to sustain U.S. and Iraqi post-war investments; professionalizing the security forces; and strengthening the United States' long-term strategic partnership with Iraq.

Do you get that. The table's saying $250 million. The text is saying $267 million.

They don't give a damn.

This is what they turned into Congress.

The figures within the report turned in can't even be reconciled within the report/request itself.

And Congress is so damn stupid that they don't even notice it. (No, I might not have caught it on my own. But, to the relief of most Americans, I'm also not a member of Congress so it's not like it's my job to pay attention to the budget the State Dept misrepresents to Congress.)

There are 'glitches' like that throughout the report.

This is US taxpayer money and this budget demonstrates how much scorn the administration has for the American people. They don't even care that their own figures within the report don't add up.

And they know Congress will spread or bend over (to each their own desired position) and just holler "Yes!" in an orgasmic orgy of spending -- of wasting -- the tax payers money.

Can you image a business -- a legitimate one -- turning in a budget that didn't add up, whose figures said one thing in one section and another thing in another?

(If you want to crunch numbers, PDF format warning, you can find the budget online here. You'll find many interesting tidbits such as 1.4 million for Iraq's "International Military Education and Training," 11 million for "International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement" and 22.5 million "Economic Support Fund.")

One thing to remember, something the Subcommittee members all seemed to forget, this was billed as a "budget" hearing. But outside of two Democrats whining on behalf of the farmers in their communities, no one felt the need to even acknowledge the money issues.

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Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Barry goes shopping

BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE

WHAT'S A GIRL TO DO AFTER FUNNY OR DIE?

GO SHOPPING!

PRINCESS BARRY O FELL INTO THE GAP WHERE HE FOUND A LOVELY, PINK, WOMEN'S BLOUSE.

EVEN WITH THOSE SAGGY MOOBS, WE'RE SURE IT WILL LOOK GREAT ON HIM.

NEXT UP?

HE'S HAD HIS EYES ON A KICKY PAIR OF THIGH HIGH BOOTS FOR WEEKS NOW!

FROM THE TCI WIRE:

Why can't, in the US, grown ups have a conversation without a bunch of partisan b.s.?

Maybe because the media refuses to inform.

Alice Fordham's joined NPR (a free lancer who worked previously for The Times of London, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and Christian Science Monitor among other outlets during the Iraq War). Between her nonsense and David Green's idiotic introduction on Morning Edition (NPR) to Fordham's bad report, it's hard to know which is worse.

Both operate under the premise that the assault on Anbar Province is appropriate.

International law and treaties beg to differ.

But not only does NPR ignore the law -- including the long established Geneva Conventions -- they also refuse to talk about how things got so bad in Anbar.

If you're a community member or regular or even semi-reader of the Iraq snapshots, you do know what's going on. But if you read through the comments -- the ones they allowed -- to Fordham's bad 'report,' you know a lot of people have no idea what's going on but they are so quick to offer 'insight' -- and it's all connected to Bully Boy Bush.

If you depend on NPR's 'reporting' on Iraq, you're dazed and confused. In fact, we'll be honoring one of NPR's biggest moment of lying about Iraq in the next few weeks. We called them out real time. No one else bothered. They aired a report that undermined democracy and violated every ethical journalistic principle. It also didn't get the facts accurate.

Here's the closest they got to honest on Morning Edition today:

FORDHAM: Zaid Al-Ali, who recently published a book, "The Struggle for Iraq's Future," says that the problems are broader than that. In Sunni-dominated places like Anbar, they won't be solved by security measures alone. He thinks that chronic unemployment also needs to be addressed and, more importantly, entrenched sectarian practices by the security forces. Detention without charge and torture are far more common in places like Anbar, he says, which feeds hatred of the government.

ZAID AL-ALI: It's been a major issue because there is a lot of abuse of detainees in Iraq. And there are a lot of cases - everyone knows about this, this is not a secret - there are a lot of cases of people being detained for no reason and for very long periods of time, without access to attorneys, without access to judges, without access to any type of recourse. And that really needs to change extremely urgently.

Wow.

That's enough to make people take to the streets and protest.

Oh, wait, it did.

Since December 21, 2012, protests have been ongoing in Iraq.

Why are they protesting?

The issues are numerous. In February 2013, Layla Anwar (An Arab Woman Blues) summed up the primary issues as follows:

- End of Sectarian Shia rule
- the re-writing of the Iraqi constitution (drafted by the Americans and Iranians)
- the end to arbitrary killings and detention, rape and torture of all detainees on basis of sect alone and their release
- the end of discriminatory policies in employment, education, etc based on sect
- the provision of government services to all
- the end of corruption
- no division between Shias and Sunnis, a one Islam for all Iraqi Muslims and a one Iraq for all Iraqis.

Still not getting why Alice Fordham, if she's going to report on Anbar, needs to mention the protests?

Let's go to Human Rights Watch, "Government security forces had withdrawn from Anbar province after provoking a tribal uprising when they raided a Sunni protest camp in Ramadi on December 30, killing 17 people." This is how the assault on Anbar begins.

If Alice Fordham and NPR want to report on the assault, they're required to note how it started.

Are their terrorists in Anbar?

I'm sure there are just as many terrorists in Anbar as there is anywhere -- including in the NPR newsroom.

But what made people wearing masks (or at least scarves covering the lower half of their faces) go out into the streets of Anbar?

Nouri's assault on the protesters.

That was only one assault, there have been so many more.

Let's again note Sunil Patel's strong piece at Fair Observer which includes:

As violence in Fallujah escalates to near-unprecedented levels, the entire narrative of the fighting seems to evade a number of key points. Namely, this fighting was not precipitated by the capture of Sunni strongholds by al-Qaeda or the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS).
The precursor to the fighting between Iraqi government forces and Sunni tribesmen of Anbar was a result of a ruthless policy of repression, aimed at nationwide protest camps opposing government measures on public services, counterterrorism, illegal house raids and a perpetuation of sectarian violence, as well as a number of other policies that continue to marginalize Sunni communities.
The Ramadi protest camps in al-Anbar have been at the center of demonstrations for the past year. It was on December 30 — a week after Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had threatened to "burn down" the camps — that special forces (SWAT) and the army descended upon the Ezz and Karama Square to crush protests, which had gained momentum after the arrest of Sunni MP Ahmed al-Alwani and the murder of his brother and five of his security guards.
Two witnesses reported to Human Rights Watch that SWAT and the army had arrived in a procession of military Humvees, pick-up trucks, and armored vehicles to clear the squares. All this just seven hours after Defense Minister Saadoun al-Dulaimi had negotiated the release of Alwani on the condition that the camps were to be cleared within 48 hours.
This is not the first attempt by government forces to clear protest camps. In April 2013, SWAT and the army opened fire on more than a thousand protestors in Hawija, south of Kirkut, killing 50 people and leaving 110 injured. The event passed without as much as a whimper in the press, let alone widespread condemnation.

An e-mail noted that the link on "protestors in Hawija" is "worthless and goes to a 2005 report."

Take it up with Fair Observer, I don't edit people's links for them.

But we have covered it in real time so I'll provide those links. January 7th, Nouri's forces assaulted four protesters in Mosul, January 24th, Nouri's forces sent two protesters (and one reporter) to the hospital, and March 8th, Nouri's force fired on protesters in Mosul killing three.

All of that and more appeared to be a trial run for what was coming, the April 23rd massacre of a peaceful sit-in in Hawija which resulted from Nouri's federal forces storming in. Alsumaria noted Kirkuk's Department of Health (Hawija is in Kirkuk) announced 50 activists have died and 110 were injured in the assault. AFP reported the death toll rose to 53 dead. UNICEF noted that the dead included 8 children (twelve more were injured).

In February 2013, Nouri put on a show about 'listening' to the protesters.

He never did.

The ridiculous press trumped his statements as facts.

How stupid is the press today?

Even 30 years ago, his remarks would have been treated as words and the press would have taken a wait-and-see posture. Instead, they hollered "End of story!" When it wasn't.

Nouri's refusal to meet the demands of the protesters, his desire to attack them physically and with words (he's called them "terrorists" since 2011).

Now his failed promises are just stripped of the story by the likes of Alice Fordham.

This isn't reporting.

This isn't even bad reporting.

It's misinformation.

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Tuesday, March 11, 2014

He needs your attention

BULLY BOY PRESS & CEDRIC'S BIG MIX -- THE KOOL-AID TABLE

FADED CELEBRITY IN CHIEF BARRY O IS JUST A STARLET STRUGGLING FOR ATTENTION. SO WHAT IF BARRY O'S LATEST STUNG -- DOING A VIDEO FOR FUNNY OR DIE -- CHEAPENS THE OFFICE, IT GETS HIM ATTENTION AND ISN'T THAT WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT?

REACHED FOR COMMENT BY THESE REPORTERS EARLIER TODAY, THE DALI BAHMA WHINED ABOUT "THE CONSTRAINTS PLACED ON ME BY THIS OFFICE. I TELL YOU, COME JANUARY 2017, I'M OFF THE CHAIN. I'LL BE GOING WILD. I'LL DO TOPLESS AND MAYBE MORE. I GOTTA GET HUGH HEFNER'S PHONE NUMBER. GIRL'S GOTTA EAT!"

FROM THE TCI WIRE:

In Nouri al-Maliki's Iraq, pretty much everyone has a target drawn on their backs. It's not just reporters, it's all groupings. For example, Nouri's now targeting female children like the pedophile that he is.

Saturday, Suadad al-Salhy (Reuters) reported, "About two dozen Iraqi women demonstrated today in Baghdad against a draft law approved by the Iraqi cabinet that would permit the marriage of nine-year-old girls and automatically give child custody to fathers." The offensive, disgusting and illegal bill was proposed by Nouri's Minister of Justice Hassan al-Shimaria. Nouri and his Cabinet signed off on it February 25th. There's a photo of some of the protesters here.

Jonathan Wolfe (Opposing Views) adds:

Iraq’s current laws grant women extensive rights regarding marriage, inheritance, and child custody. Together, the current statutes have been hailed as some of the most progressive in the Middle East.

The proposed law would change all of this. Among other things, the bill claims girls reach puberty at age nine and can be married off accordingly. It grants fathers complete custody of children at age two, and legally allows men to demand sex from their wives at any time.

The current laws include and are based on the personal status law 188 which went into effect in 1959. The US government didn't give a damn about Iraqi women and the women had to the streets to protest in 2005 to ensure their rights were not written away as planned. Of the personal status law, People's World notes:

It established at least partial equality between women and men in a number of areas, restricted polygamy, created a judicial procedure for divorce and required marriage to be performed only in state-run courts. The law, which was later amended several times, also set an 18-year minimum age for marriage. A later amendment allowed marriage for persons over the age of 15 but under that of 18 in very strict cases and only by authorization of a state judge.

Ban Ki-moon is the United Nations Secretary-General. His Special Envoy in Iraq is Nickolay Mlandenov. Mladenov Tweeted the following Saturday:

Nine-year-olds getting married, that's what sicko Nouri wants, he wants to nail some nine-year-old girl because he's a disgusting piece of filth who's not fit for public office. As sick as he is, let's take a look at the ultimate in sick, the US administration. Here's Secretary of State John Kerry stringing words together to make some of verbal necklace that holds up neither as jewelry nor as honesty:

International Women’s Day is a moment to pause and reflect on the contributions of women to the world and to reaffirm our commitment to continued progress on gender equality. It’s also a powerful reminder that women are advancing peace and prosperity around the world in really remarkable ways.
I see it every day as Secretary of State.
I see it in Ukraine, where women are working on the frontlines as volunteers for the Maidan Medical Service. They are raising their voices for freedom and dignity, and we must all step up and answer their call.
I see it in Afghanistan, where women are starting companies, serving as members of parliament, teaching in schools, and working as doctors and nurses. They are the foundation on which Afghanistan’s future is being built.
I see it in Syria, where women are getting restrictions on humanitarian access lifted by offering food to regime soldiers at the checkpoints.
I see it in Mali, where women are risking their lives as advocates for women’s and children’s rights.

Do you see it in Iraq, John?

John Kerry: Everywhere I travel, in every meeting, I can see firsthand the promise of a world where women are empowered as equal partners in peace and prosperity. But here’s what’s most important: all of the fights and all of the progress we’ve seen in recent years haven’t come easily or without struggle. And we still have work to do.

Oh, that's right, you don't travel to Iraq. The US State Dept (and USAID) has a billion US tax dollars to spend each year on Iraq (it is a billion, there was a move, at the end of 2013 to call it $800 million but that was using 'creative math' in an attempt to lie to the American people yet again).

A billion US tax dollars a year? And the State Dept -- which Kerry heads -- is also supposed to be over the US mission in Iraq.

Who's running the show?

Nouri's the US-installed puppet, he barks and strains at his leash, now he starting to foam at the mouth so who's going to make the call to animal control?

John Kerry continued his speech about International Women's Day by insisting:

Our work is not done when one out of every three women is subjected to some form of violence in her lifetime.
We cannot rest knowing that girls younger than 15 are forced to marry and that they are five times more likely to die in childbirth than women in their twenties.

No, your work -- that your paid to perform by the US taxpayer -- is not done. It is so far from done. And you know what else?

Five is younger than fifteen.

So you're expressed horror at child-brides at the age of 15 looks hollow and fake when you can't say one damn word about Nouri's attempt to force five-year-old girls into marriage.

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