Cedric's Big Mix

Monday, August 10, 2020

How much more can America endure?

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

THE WORLD CONTINUES TO SUFFER AS THE PANDEMIC RAGES ON.

AND THINGS ARE ABOUT TO GET MUCH, MUCH WORSE. PEACOCK HAS ANNOUNCED AN UPCOMING 'COMEDY' PRODUCED BY TINA FEY.

THE PERSON WHO CREATED "CABOT COLLEGE" FOR FOX (IT NEVER AIRED) AND "FAMILY FORTUNE" FOR ABC (IT NEVER AIRED), "THE KICKER" FOR CBS (IT NEVER AIRED), "THE SACKET SISTERS" FOR NBC (IT NEVER AIRED) IS PREPPING TO OFFER MORE BAD T.V. THIS DESPITE HAVING CREATED THE MASSIVE DISAPPOINTMENTS THAT ARE "UNBREAKABLE KIMMY SCHMIDT" AND "GREAT NEWS."

HOW MUCH UNFUNNY CAN ONE PERSON INFLICT ON A NATION?

FROM THE TCI WIRE:

MIDDLE EAST MONITOR ONLINE notes:

Hundreds of Iraqi protesters yesterday stormed Dhi Qar Governorate building in the centre of Nasiriyah province to protest against poor public services and corruption, the Anadolu Agency reported.

The agency quoted eyewitnesses as saying that tribes in the Al-Fahd district organised the protest, accusing officials of corruption and mismanagement.

Thousands of Iraqis and displaced persons suffer from poor public services, especially access to electricity.

Iraq is not a poor country struck with famine. It's an oil rich country and, certainly, various politicians have used their office to embezzle money. While the people suffered, various Iraqi leaders have gotten rich. Former prime minister and forever thug Nouri al-Maliki is only one example of someone who used the office to enrich himself and his family at the expense of the Iraqi people. And the corruption has led to the current situation. All of this comes as Baghdad hit a new record for all time highest temperature on Saturday. Natalie O'Neill (NEW YORK POST) noted,

Folks in Iraq aren’t hot on this weather trend.

Temperatures soared to a scorching 126 degrees in Baghdad last week — the hottest ever recorded in the city, according to a report.

The sweltering heat, which comes during the country’s hottest summer ever, sparked power outages that forced locals to endure the weather without air conditioning, Bloomberg News reported.

Shakthi Vadakkepat Tweets:

IRAQ'S HEAT WAVE: Temperatures in Baghdad last week reached 52°C (126 °F).
Here's how local kids are keeping cool as power blackouts mean no air conditioning during the #coronavirus lockdown

From

How does an oil rich country struggle with something as basic as energy production? Supposedly, the US war for oil did not beneift the US. S&P GLOBAL PLATTS maintains:

Iraq's energy ties with the US, which were supposed to yield oil deals following the 2003 invasion, have been whittled down to waivers to OPEC's second biggest producer to import Iranian electricity and gas, and avoid a political meltdown of the fragile Baghdad government, according to analysts.

US energy companies did not benefit much from the rule of the Coalition Provisional Authority -- the US-appointed entity that governed Iraq post the 2003 invasion until 2004 -- and they seem unlikely to gain a foothold in the oil sector of a country fighting a resurgent Islamic State, grappling with protests and facing financial collapse from low oil prices.

"The expectations of US policy-makers in the early years was that US companies would enjoy competitive advantage in a liberalized Iraqi oil and gas sector," said Raad Alkadiri, senior director at the BCG Center for Energy Impact.

"Iraq's sector has remained state-owned and state-guided, and US companies have been forced to compete in open licensing rounds. Various efforts by US Administrations (including the current Trump Administration) to engineer bilateral negotiations and to promote US company interests have come to naught."

The benchmarks imposed by the US -- and agreed to by Iraq -- included privatizing the oil. And, it should be noted, the US was never supposed to benefit from the war -- multi-national companies were supposed to benefit -- and many have.

Monday, August 10, 2020

How much more can America endure?

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Cedric's Big Mix