Sunday, April 30, 2023

Paul Kupperberg's DIRECT CONVERSTIONS: TALKS WITH FELLOW DC COMICS BRONZE AGE CREATORS

I like comic books, to this day.  I like reading about comic books, like Stan's "SHAZAM! FURY OF THE GODS" which talked about his love for the comic book series.

I lived, as a kid, for MAD MAGAZINE, POWERMAN AND IRON FIST, MS. MARVEL (read Marcia's "Female superheroes"), WORLD'S FINEST COMIC BOOKS, X-MEN, LEGION OF SUPERHEROES,  THE DEFENDERS, THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, WHAT IF?, THE SILVER SUFER, THE TEEN TITANS, THE AVENGERS, SHE-HULK, SPIDER-WOMAN, DAREDEVIL, FANTASTIC FOUR . . .

So I was interested in Paul Kupperberg's DIRECT CONVERSTIONS: TALKS WITH FELLOW DC COMICS BRONZE AGE CREATORS.  Kupperberg started working for DC in 1975.  He speaks with others who did as well: Howard Chaykin, Jack C. Harris, Tony Isabella, Paul Levitz, Steve Mitchell, Bob Rozakis, Joe Staton, Anthony Tollin, Bob Toomey, and Michael Uslan.

This is from the conversation with Jack C. Harris:
 
It all clicked for me when I was soring my comics, which I kept in a big washing machine box in the attic.  I was sorting them into piles by titles I liked best, and that got me wondering what it was about those books that made them my favorites, other than the fact that they were all DCs.  Then I checked out [each book's] indicia, the small print at the bottom of the first page, and found they all had something in common: the name Julius Schwartz was listed as the editor.  I had no idea what an editor did, but whatever it was, this Schwartz guy was doing it better than everybody else.  After that, I'd check all the books I was buying for the "Julius Schwartz" credit.  [. . .] They also took priority in reading order.  I wouldn't even wait to get home to start reading.  

It's a good thing Kupperberg worked in comics because he could never host a talk show.  The "[. . .]" indicates where he cut off Harris.

Who is this volume for?  It's not for comic book lovers.  It appears to exist to document that Kupperberg worked for DC -- and no other reason.

The interviews are uniformly dull.  When someone does break through with something interesting -- mainly Harris -- it's just ignored or cut short.

I don't really care about the time you saw a cover of a Superboy comic where the pants were colored red and the briefs and boots blue but, thank God!, you managed to stop it before it went to print.

And I don't care about all your bitchy office gossip -- he insisted on going to his coffee break every day at ten!  He insisted, that since he go to work 15 minutes early, he leave 15 minutes early!  

I care about the comic books.  Would have been great if that could have been front and center.

Talk about an issue you wrote that you liked, talk about an issue you drew or colored.

Instead, it's just garbage.  

Here's a typical passage with Anthony Tollin speaking:



One day Denny wandered in, shaking his head in despair.  He was launching a new title based on an old pulp character, the SHADOW, but he'd decided the book was cursed.  Alex Toth was initially assinged to it but didn't like the script he'd received, so he had Richard Kyle write a new one and billed DC for it.  Kyle Steranko was going to draw the book, but he fell through, and Denny had just found out he wouldn't be able to use Wrightson, who really wanted the assignment and had already drawn a house ad for the title but was deemed too valuable on SWAMP THING.  If he couldn't have Bernie, Denny didn't know what he was going to do, which is when Michael Kaluta, one of the freelancers hanging out, asked, "Can I draw it?"  So, Denny ran down to Carmine's office and returned a few minutes later with the boss's okay to give Kaluta the job.

Well that really changes the way I see the time when they gave Lois Lane bionic powers!  I do like that story but the quote above is not about any Lois Lane story.  In fact, ultimately, it's about nothing.  Useless gossip that conveys nothing.

I do not recommend this book one bit.

Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"

Friday, April 28, 2023.  The American Taliban continues its attack on our democracy and our rights, their figurehead Marjorie Taylor Greene ignores growing personal rumors to attack the adoptive parents and stepparents, that Mother Tucker Carlson continues to be rightly called out, new evidence demands that the Iraqi government release Robert Pether, and much more.


Starting with US President Joe Biden.  Wednesday, The White House released the following statement from Joe:


Our Nation has made tremendous progress in advancing the cause of equality for LGBTQI+ Americans.  To keep building on that progress, we must reflect honestly on the darkest chapters of our story and on how far we have come.  Seventy years ago, as the Cold War set in, President Eisenhower signed an Executive Order banning LGBTQI+ Americans from serving in the Federal Government.  This action codified a shameful chapter in our Nation’s history known as the “Lavender Scare.”  It was a decades-long period when 5,000 to 10,000 LGBTQI+ Federal employees were investigated, were interrogated, and lost their jobs simply because of who they were and whom they loved. 

On this anniversary, we acknowledge the importance of telling the complete history of our Nation, reflecting on the lives changed by this discrimination, honoring the courageous Americans who fought to end this injustice, and celebrating the contributions of today’s proud LGBTQI+ public servants — including members of our Armed Forces.

Our Nation was founded on the sacred idea that all of us are created equal and deserve to be treated equally under our laws.  But for so many members of the LGBTQI+ community, hate, discrimination, and isolation throughout our country’s history have denied them the full promise of America.  The Lavender Scare epitomized — and institutionalized — this injustice.  As LGBTQI+ employees were forced out of the workforce, the Federal Government attempted to defend its policies by propagating false and hateful stereotypes — accusing this community of being a threat to our national security and unworthy of public trust.  Employees who were fired under these policies often lost future employment, other opportunities, and even relationships with their own families.  Many endured poverty and public disgrace.  Some took their own lives as a result of the trauma they had to bear.

While this is a story of profound injustice, it is also a story of remarkable bravery.  From seeking relief in the courts to picketing in front of the White House, activists stood up for their rights and helped lay the foundation for the modern-day LGBTQI+ civil rights movement.  One such trailblazer was Franklin Kameny, an Army astronomer, who after being fired because he was gay, dedicated over 50 years of his life to activism and helping LGBTQI+ workers stand up for their rights.  In 2009, I was proud to meet Frank Kameny in the Oval Office as President Obama and I officially expanded many Federal benefits to same-sex partners of Government employees.

I am equally proud to have mandated additional protections for the fundamental rights of LGBTQI+ Americans.  I have appointed barrier-breaking LGBTQI+ leaders to the highest levels of Government, including the first openly gay Senate-confirmed Cabinet Secretary, the first two openly transgender Americans to be confirmed by the United States Senate, and the first open lesbian to achieve the rank of Ambassador.  When Americans tune in to the daily White House press briefing, they see the first openly gay White House Press Secretary representing my Administration on the world stage.

But this is just the beginning.  I rescinded the discriminatory ban on transgender service members, paving the way for these brave Americans to once again serve openly in the United States military.  I signed an Executive Order on Advancing Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in the Federal Workforce, taking additional steps to ensure that LGBTQI+ public servants are treated with dignity and respect.  I also signed a landmark Executive Order charging the Federal Government to prevent and combat discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.  Federal agencies have since strengthened or clarified protections for LGBTQI+ Americans in housing, health care, education, employment, credit and lending services, and the criminal justice system.  Just last year, I proudly signed the Respect for Marriage Act to defend the rights of LGBTQI+ and interracial couples. 

The struggle for equal justice is not over.  Today and in each generation, we must rededicate ourselves to ending the hatred and discrimination that LGBTQI+ Americans continue to face.  That includes addressing a wave of discriminatory laws that target them — especially transgender children — and that echo the hateful stereotypes and stigma of the Lavender Scare.  My Administration is standing firmly with brave LGBTQI+ Americans to push back against these injustices.

Great nations face their history openly and honestly:  the good, the bad, and the truth.  Today, we make our message simple to every public servant who suffered from the un-American policies and discrimination of the Lavender Scare:  We see your sacrifices.  We acknowledge what you lost and what you wrongfully endured.  I have mandated my Administration to do all we can to write a new chapter of our American story that will demonstrate our abiding commitment to equal rights, respect for human dignity, and limitless opportunity for all.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim April 27, 2023, as the 70th Anniversary of the Lavender Scare.  I call upon government officials and the people of the United States of America to honor the contributions of LGBTQI+ public servants, to recognize the lives impacted by the Lavender Scare, and to celebrate the great diversity of the American people.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-sixth day of April, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-three, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-seventh.

                             JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.





The "lavender scare" was a moral panic about homosexual people in the United States government which led to their mass dismissal from government service during the mid-20th century. It contributed to and paralleled the anti-communist campaign which is known as McCarthyism and the Second Red Scare.[1] Gay men and lesbians were said to be national security risks and communist sympathizers, which led to the call to remove them from state employment.[2] It was thought that gay people were more susceptible to being manipulated, which could pose a threat to the country.[3] Lesbians were at less risk of persecution than gay men, but some lesbians were interrogated or lost their jobs.

The Lavender Scare – the federal government's official response to both a visible lesbian and gay community and a perceived homosexual menace – normalized persecution of homosexuals through bureaucratic institutionalization of homophobia. Former U.S. Senator Alan K. Simpson wrote: "The so-called 'Red Scare' has been the main focus of most historians of that period of time. A lesser-known element and one that harmed far more people was the witch-hunt McCarthy and others conducted against homosexuals."[4]

[. . .]

In 1947, at the beginning of the Cold War and the heightened concern about internal security, the State Department began campaigns to rid the department of communists and homosexuals, and they established a set of "security principles" that went on to inspire the creation of a dual loyalty-security test which became the model for other government agencies, as well as the basis for a government-wide security program under President Dwight D. Eisenhower's administration.[9] Under the criteria of the State Department's security principles, "disloyal" persons included communists, their associates, and those guilty of espionage, along with persons known for "habitual drunkenness, sexual perversion, moral turpitude, financial irresponsibility or criminal record," and were to be denied federal employment.[10] With the inclusion of "sexual perversion" among those considered unsuitable for federal employment, discrimination against homosexuals was implicitly built into State Department policy, and it was grandfathered into federal governmental protocol and procedure. Between 1947 and 1950, over 1700 applicants to federal jobs were denied the positions due to allegations of homosexuality.[11]

Even before the 1947 establishment of State Department security principles, the United States military had developed discriminatory policies targeting gay men and lesbians. In 1940, President Roosevelt and his Selective Service advisers were convinced by psychiatrists of the need to implement screening programs to determine the mental health of potential soldiers as to reduce the cost of psychiatric rehabilitation for returning veterans.[12] Although the initial plan for psychiatric screenings of military recruits included no direct references to homosexuality, within a year, direct references were added – this development in military bureaucratic processes contributed towards the momentum of the military's preoccupation with homosexuality during World War II.[13] The new psychiatric screening directives and procedures introduced to the military the idea that homosexuals were unfit to serve in the armed forces because they were mentally ill: a change from the military's traditional way of approaching homosexuality as a crime.[14] During World War I, punishment of homosexual soldiers was first codified in American military law, and during World War II, final regulations were declared and homosexuals were banned from all branches of the military in 1943.[15] Despite all of the regulations, the need for troops allowed for loopholes regarding the acceptance/rejection of homosexuals to fight in war. Around 4,000–5,000 out of 18 million men that had been in consideration were turned away.[3] Those serving in the military were ordered to report homosexual acts by other soldiers that were serving. Between two thousand and five thousand soldiers were suspected to be homosexuals in the military, where women were discharged at a higher rate than men.[16]

If the influx of people into Washington, D.C., during the New Deal created the urban and professional environments that allowed a gay and lesbian subculture to flourish, then World War II accelerated the process: for many lesbians and gay men, the war was a national coming out experience.[17] Mobilization for World War II and the war experience gave birth to a new addition to the American social urban landscape – the lesbian and gay community. To many Americans, this visible homosexual subculture seemed to prove their suspicions that the war had loosened puritanical moral codes, broadened sexual mores and certainly represented a viable threat to ideals of puritanical gender roles, heterosexuality, and the nuclear family. After the war, as families were united and as Americans struggled to put their lives back together, a national narrative rigorously promoted and propagated idealized versions of the nuclear family, heterosexuality, and traditional gender roles in the home and the workplace.[18]

In February 1950, the same year that Senator Joseph McCarthy claimed 205 communists were working in the State Department, Undersecretary of State John Peurifoy said that the State Department had allowed 91 homosexuals to resign.[19][20] Only two of these were women.[21] Following this, the administration of President Harry Truman was accused of not taking the "threat" of homosexuality seriously enough. In June 1950, an investigation by the Senate began into the government's employment of homosexuals. The results were not released until December, but in the mean time federal job losses due to allegations of homosexuality increased greatly, rising from approximately 5 to 60 per month.[11] On April 19, 1950, the Republican National Chairman Guy George Gabrielson said that "sexual perverts who have infiltrated our Government in recent years" were "perhaps as dangerous as the actual Communists".[22] The danger was not solely because they were gay, however. Homosexuals were considered to be more susceptible to blackmail and thus were labeled as security risks.[23] McCarthy hired Roy Cohn as chief counsel of his Congressional subcommittee. Together, McCarthy and Cohn – with the enthusiastic support of the head of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover – were responsible for the firing of scores of gay men and women from government employment, and strong-armed many opponents into silence using rumors of their homosexuality.[24][25][26] In 1953, during the final months of the Truman administration, the State Department reported that it had fired 425 employees for allegations of homosexuality.[27][28][29]

McCarthy often used accusations of homosexuality as a smear tactic in his anti-communist crusade, often combining the Second Red Scare with the Lavender Scare. On one occasion, he went so far as to announce to reporters, "If you want to be against McCarthy, boys, you've got to be either a Communist or a cocksucker."[30] At least one recent historian has argued that, by linking communism and homosexuality with psychological imbalance, McCarthy was employing guilt-by-association when evidence for communist activity was lacking.[31] Political rhetoric at the time often linked communists and homosexuals, and common beliefs among the public were similar, stating that both were "morally weak" or "psychologically disturbed," along with being godless and undermining traditional families.[32]

For example, McCarthy spoke on the Senate floor about two individual people, "Case 14" and "Case 62," as communists who were "unsafe risks" which he directly linked to their homosexuality.[32] He said a top intelligence official had told him "every active communist is twisted mentally or physically," and he implied that these people were vulnerable to recruitment by communists because of their "peculiar mental twists" of homosexuality.[32]

Due to the image of the State Department now being tainted with homosexuality, many male employees became self-conscious about the possibility of being perceived as homosexual. They often refused to be seen in pairs, and made statements confirming their heterosexuality when introducing themselves. For example, one unnamed employee often said at parties, "Hi, I'm so-and-so, I work for the State Department. I'm married and I have three children."[33]



I don't know what to tell you.  I'm always amazed when people go on YOUTUBE -- see our critique of Tulsi Gabbard yesterday -- to 'inform' but don't know a damn thing about what they're talking about.





White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, the first LGBTQ individual to serve in her role, tweeted that the anniversary of the original executive order is of “personal importance” to her. 

“It’s a reminder of how far we’ve come and the work that continues under this Administration to advance full inclusion and equal protection for LGBTQI+ Americans,” she said. 






Jack Teixiera’s odyssey from online racist to alleged classified-information sh**poster to federal inmate shocked many — but it shouldn’t. In recent years, the Defense and Justice departments have investigated a number of servicemembers for involvement in far-right groups — and found they also appear to enjoy sharing the government’s most closely held secrets with their bros. 

While Republicans in Congress have played down the risk of extremists in the military, experts who follow the issue say they’re not surprised to see extremist beliefs and leaks of classified information coincide. In a 2021 hearing on extremism in the armed forces, Republican members of Congress wondered aloud whether the issue had really “proven itself to be a major problem” or whether the issue was merely “political theater” for Democrats to enforce a partisan ideological discipline on the armed services. Republicans in the House and Senate have blasted Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s training efforts to root out extremism and voted against legislation to track “white-supremacist and neo-Nazi activity in the uniformed services.” 

“I don’t think we should be surprised at all,” says Don Christensen, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who served as the Air Force’s chief prosecutor. “It’s clear that we at least have a subculture of racism and antisemitism within the military, and that there are people who are willing to act out by sharing classified information or making terroristic threats against those minorities or Jewish people.”

The military is one of the nation’s most diverse organizations, and only a small percentage of servicemembers are racist. But when it comes to leaks, even a handful of white nationalists can do a lot of damage.

Teixeira’s racism appears to have been more casual, rather than organized and violent, like other racist members of the military who have recently faced charges. A video of him at a shooting range obtained by The Washington Post showed the Air National Guardsman yelling racist and antisemitic slurs while popping off rounds at a shooting range. And on his Discord servers, users regularly posted similar memes.

It’s unclear what made Teixeira post volumes of sensitive documents on social media. He embraced right-wing conspiracy theories, including a false claim that the white-supremacist massacre at a Buffalo grocery store was part of a secret government plot. But he mostly appeared keen to share classified documents in order to revel in the awe of the young teenagers who looked up to the 21-year-old in his small Discord server. 



Did he embrace that?  Okay, now we get why crazy Marjorie Taylor Greene praised and embraced him.  She's probably had contact with him knowing her -- contact before the leak.  Let's again note Chelsea Handler on MTG. 

 




Marjorie Taylor Greene: I have people come up to me and say crazy things to me out of the blue in public places that they believe because they read it on the internet.

Chelsea Handler:  Well if that's not the pot calling the kettle QAnon.  This woman thought 9/11 was a hoax, that the Clintons killed JFK Jr. and that Jews are in charge of space lasers.  But please, don't come at her with some crazy ideas -- she might believe them. 



"Well if that's not the pot calling the kettle QAnon." 

 

David Moye (HUFFINGTON POST) reports on the latest rabid frothing at the mouth of Majorie:



Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) just said something wicked to stepparents everywhere by implying that they aren’t really parents.

During the House Oversight and Accountability Subcommittee on Select Coronavirus Crisis hearing Wednesday, the Republican congresswoman decided to grill Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, about her credentials.

“Are you a medical doctor?” Greene asked, followed by, “Are you a mother?”

Weingarten admitted she was not a doctor and was “a mother by marriage” and added that her wife was also at the hearing.

Greene then noted that Weingarten hadn’t taught a class since the 1990s, to which the union leader pointed out that she would be a guest teacher at Cornell University later in the year.

Greene grilled Weingarten about a tweet the union leader posted that supported Twitter suspending Greene, leading her to say that Weingarten was more of “a political activist” than anything else on her resume.

After Greene raged about Black Lives Matter, Weingarten delivering supplies to teachers in Ukraine and COVID-19 school closures, Weingarten tried to speak up in protest.

That set Greene off even more, and she railed against Weingarten for, among other things, not being a biological parent.

“I didn’t ask you a question. What I would like to talk about is your recommendations to the CDC, as not a medical doctor, not a biological mother, and really not a teacher, either. So, what you did is you advised the CDC?” Greene said. 

The exchange inspired Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) to mention Greene’s unacceptable decorum and give Weingarten a moment to note that she is a mother whether Greene believes her to be or not.



Boys and girls,  crazy Marjorie Taylor Greene is admired by Tara Reade and Glenn Greenwald.  That tells you all you need to know about both of them.  They are not concerned with liberty or rights.  They're just bullies -- Tara's a particularly fat bully -- and that's why they rally behind a crack pot idiot like Marjorie Taylor Greene.   


And it wasn't just step-parents that crazy Marjorie insulted.  Randi Weingarten is a legal parent to the children (she adopted them).  Exactly who does Marjorie think is fit to parent?  Herself?  Herself and her rumored lover who is already married?  Really, Marjorie, who?


This is the crazy Republican party of today.  They can never stop attacking people.  They will never stop denying your rights.  You're a parent because you legally adopted and a court of law recognizes that but hateful Marjorie Taylor Greene doesn't recognize it.  

Are you really surprised?

The American Taliban schemed and schemed to overturn ROE and, having done so with DOBBS, they're no longer promoting adoption.  Instead, you're awful  if you adopt.  It's the American Taliban and you better look around because there are a lot of people in it -- John Stauber, Jonathan Turley, Glenneth Greenwald, and many, many more.  These people are not your friends.  They're not going to protect you.  

They spend forever 'mourning' the firing of racist, bigot Tucker Carlson.  They're just divorcing themselves from reality and reducing the number of people they could potentially reach.




Glenneth is never right.  Grasp that for starters.  Liberals and the left hate Tucker?  Ignore Hannity?  Sean Hannity is an old, old man.  He started on FOX "NEWS" in 1996.  He is not pertinent to anyone unless they wear Depends.  Tucker Carlson was someone popularized by self-loather Glenneth Greenwald, by con man Jimmy Dore, by racist Jackson Hinkle and so many more.  That put him on the radar.  I know Glenneth lies -- always.  I didn't expect Lee Fang to lie for him.  Lee, maybe you need to leave THE INTERCEPT at this point and go out on your own.  I don't think you're helping THE INTERCEPT with your crazy.  You're also not helping Matt Taibbi because I no longer care what you say.  Prior to this nonsense, I was listening to you.

Tucker is a racist who was anti-immigrant.

This is not minor.

If you look, you'll see that all these con artists promoting Tucker Carlson -- Glenneth, Jimmy, Jackie and his tiny Hinkle, all of them -- are also the ones who attack 'identity politics.'

This is the crux right here.

This is why identity politics is needed.

Glenneth, Jimmy and Jackie play it themselves.  If it doesn't effect them as White men, it's not important.

So they don't care about immigrants, they don't care about Tucker's racism, about him calling for a pardon of a man who deliberately killed an African-American male, they don't care about any of that.  And when challenged for supporting a hate  merchant, they snap that nuclear war is impending!!!!  

No, they just don't care about anything that doesn't effect them.  They don't care about immigrants, they don't care about people of color, they don't care.  

We saw this with Journo-list when some people were brave enough to object to Keith Olbermann's sexism and then others, believe it was HARPER'S Scott Horton, were insisting that sexism didn't matter because we needed to end torture!!!!!  (Scott Horton that I'm referring to is an attorney.  He is not the Scott Horton of ANTI-WAR.COM.)  

They're the ones fake assing.

Lee Fang is an idiot and a suck up.  I no longer care to read him.  He can defend Matt until the cows come home and I won't read him because he's filth.  If he wanted to help Matt, this was not the way.  The Howler Monkeys were already on Matt's side. Lee Fang didn't need to reach them.  Thanks to his garbage of being on Tucker's side -- and against "libs" -- means he's not reaching beyond a small circle.  So he can no longer help Matt.  Hope slitting his wrist was fun for Fang because he's now left Matt high and dry.


And considering the charges of racism that Lee Fang has faced in the past, not really getting how standing next to racist Tucker Carlson is a good look for him.

You do you, Lee.  Go grab your white sheet out of the closet and you do you.

I'll stay with the people -- all the people.  Especially the ones who need allies.  Especially the ones who are targeted because of their race or their gender or the sexuality.  





They are not your friend.  They are fake asses and liars and con artists.  Jacob Crosse (WSWS) notes:

The former Fox News host has long been the target of advertiser boycotts due to the fascist content consistently churned out on his show. Carlson’s anti-immigrant and racist program was frequently the highest-rated show on Fox during the Trump presidency and following his failed coup, drawing upwards of 3 million viewers a night.

Trump expressed his dismay at Carlson’s departure, writing on his social media network, “The fact that Tucker Carlson will no longer be on Fox News is a big blow to Cable News, and to America. Tucker was insightful, interesting, and ratings gold. He will be greatly missed!”

Similarly, Wisconsin Republican Senator Ron Johnson wrote on Twitter that Carlson “has been engaging in the best journalism on TV uncovering and exposing the truth. This is a huge loss to Fox News.”

Disoriented middle-class and libertarian elements, such as journalists Glenn Greenwald, Max Blumenthal, Anya Parampil and Aaron Maté along with comedian Jimmy Dore and fascist Jackson Hinkle also took to social media to praise Carlson, primarily for his professed opposition to US involvement in the Ukraine war and the Syrian civil war.

Carlson, an early proponent of the Iraq war, is not a genuine opponent of US imperialism but, like Trump, seeks to capitalize on broad antiwar sentiment in the working class, and channel it to the advantage of the Republican Party.



Again, those people are not your friends.  They have pretended until the moment they revealed themselves -- DOBBS was a horrible decision but a liberating moment.  It's always better to know who are enemies are and, in the wake of DOBBS, many exposed their true nature.


Jeffrey St. Clair (COUNTERPUNCH) weighs in on the firing of that Mother Tucker:

+ Tucker Carlson’s transformation from the brattish scion of a “Deep State” diplomat and former head of Voice of America to a bow-tie-wearing talk show smart-aleck into the white working-class tribune of Fox Populi is one of the greatest acts of political crossdressing in American history.

+ As in all these cases, Tucker’s offense wasn’t his racism or lies or on-air libels but threatening the bottom-line of the Boss. There are many more Tuckers being test-driven now in Rupert’s Body Shop.

+ When Tucker was asked the pressing question of our time, “What is a woman?” He apparently answered with the C-word.

+ We are meant to believe that the man who built his media empire by running photos of topless women (many of them barely legal teenagers) on page 3 of The Sun every day for 44 years fired Tucker Carlson for being a misogynist.

+ Is this the best the NYT has dug up about the offenses of Fox’s Wanker of Mass Destruction? “In video obtained by The Times…Mr. Carlson is shown discussing his “postmenopausal fans” … and in another video, he is overheard describing a woman he finds “yummy.””

+ Someone said Tucker sounds like a sober Charlie Sheen. Sounds about right.

+ Some of us are old enough to remember when Rupert fired himself, his son James, Les Hinton (head of Dow Jones), and his favorite editor, Rebekah Brooks, after the phone-hacking scandal and not much changed at NewsCorp., politically or in terms of their “journalistic” practices.

+ The fact that FoxNews apparently has an executive charged with amassing kompromat files on some of its biggest stars, including Tucker Carlson, is one of the Foxiest things ever.

+ FoxNews doesn’t seem to be dialing it back. Laura Ingraham this week: Democrats “believe that everyone in this audience, every one of you sitting here tonight, they — if they could, I really believe they would shut you down, whether put you in a camp, or put you — send you away somewhere so you’re never heard from again.”

+ Like many authoritarian demagogues, Tucker Carlson seems to be a truly weird person. His obsessions–filth, bizarre animal stories (“sex crazed pandas” and “psycho raccoons”), obesity, bodily excrescences, the subliminal messages of candy,  testicle tanning–which he regularly inflicted on his audiences, range far beyond the usual tabloid grotesqueries and border on the pathological.

+ Still, we tend to vastly overstate the influence of cable-news bobbleheads like Tucker Carlson. On his best nights, Carlson had around 3 million watched his show for at least a couple of minutes, less than 1 percent of the US population. So, literally almost no one was watching him, which is how it should be.

+ The day after Fox fired Carlson and CNN booted Don Lemon, ABC terminated Nate Silver. Silver’s smug, poll-driven prognostications on just about everything had as pernicious an effect on political life in the US as the racist ranting of Tucker Carlson. Good riddance to both.

+ According to Nate Silver, Nate Silver had a 99.5% chance of keeping his job.

+ There’s rampant speculation over what “possessed” Rupert to fire Carlson, but I think we’ve finally located someone who’s divined the answer: demons.

+++


Now let's move to Iraq.  And let's wonder where is little Caitlin Johnstone?  Where?  Where?  Still on the airplane.



Poor Caitlin Johnstone, she's had such a tough life.  What does she say?  Oh, right, "My middle name is Miracle because I was born attached to a dead twin who had a second butt where it's mouth was supposed to be."

That must be why the Australian citizen can't call her government out over the lack of assistance and support to Robert Pether who, like Caitlin herself, is Australian.  Robert has now been held in prison in Iraq for two years and counting.






A cache of documents has undermined key evidence that was relied upon by Iraqi authorities to jail the Australian engineer Robert Pether, prompting renewed calls for his release.

Pether, a father of three, has meanwhile made allegations that a “confession” statement used against him was mistranslated by a biased employee of Iraq’s central bank before being handed to court.

Pether and his colleague Khaled Saad Zaghloul were jailed in 2021 for five years and fined US$12m over allegations their engineering firm defrauded the Iraqi government during a project to build the Central Bank of Iraq’s new headquarters.

Pether’s employer CME Consulting was accused of continuing to bill the government for the work of a subcontractor, Meinhardt, despite having told Meinhardt to stop work on the project almost immediately after the two firms signed a contract.

Testimony obtained by Guardian Australia shows that a Meinhardt employee told an Iraqi court that CME had told the subcontractor to stop work “three weeks after signing the contract”.

The employee alleged CME then ceased all contact with Meinhardt.

“We left the issue and the accused Khaled Saad Zaghloul did not contact us at all,” the Meinhardt employee’s 11 May 2021 testimony says.

“[We] told [the Central Bank of Iraq] that the accused Khaled Saad Zaghloul informed us in 2017 that the project had stopped so we left the case and that we did not send any of our engineers to the project site and did not provide any engineering consultations.”

But email correspondence reveals extensive contact continued between CME and Meinhardt for months, at odds with what the court was told.

The documents reveal that CME and senior Meinhardt employees exchanged 51 emails between January and July in 2018. The last of these was dated more than six months after the contract, also obtained by the Guardian, was signed.

The Meinhardt employee who authored the prosecution testimony was copied into five CME-Meinhardt emails from May to late June 2018, six months after the time he alleged all contact had ceased.



 According to records obtained by The Guardian, CME and top Meinhardt personnel exchanged 51 emails between January and July 2018. The last of these was dated over six months after the contract.

From May to late June 2018, the Meinhardt employee who provided the prosecution testimony was copied into five CME-Meinhardt communications, six months after he claimed all interaction had halted.

Meanwhile, Pether, a father of three, alleged that a “confession” statement used against him was mistranslated by a biased employee of Iraq’s central bank before being handed to court.

Pether told The Guardian: “I recognized (my) translator as soon as he came into the room. He was known to me since 2016.

“Apart from facial recognition, he also has some distinguishing marks and characteristics.”

The Guardian has obtained contemporaneous court records confirming Pether brought this up during his criminal trial and complained that his translated statement was flawed and incorrect.



He's a political prisoner and has been for two years and counting and people like Caitlin Johnstone who are too pathetic and too cowardly their own government have done nothing to help him.

USEFUL IDIOTS posted a new video an hour ago -- they're speaking with Matt Taibbi and we'll wind down with that.







The following sites updated:



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Saturday, April 15, 2023

Music -- Laura Nyro and Diana Ross

I have had a migraine since Friday morning.  It is just not going away.  I used to get them all the time but it's been a few years now since I've had one.  Nothing I take is helping.

When it gets like this, I have to be in a dark room.  I can take music, as long as it's not too loud.

So here's what I've been listening to over and over for the last 24 plus hours.

Laura Nyro's CHRISTMAS IN MY SOUL.  "Map To Treasure" may be one of the best songs from the seventies. 


Laura Nyro was a singer-songwriter active from the 60s to 1997 when she passed away.  She was a very gifted artist.

Her songs were hits for many artists.  Barbra Streisand reinvented her music career with "Stoney End."  The 5th Dimension had hits with Laura's "Save The Country," "Wedding Bell Blues," "Blowing Away," "Stoned Soul Picnic" and "Sweet Blindess."  Three Dog Night had a hit with her "Eli's Coming" and Blood Sweat and Tears had a hit with "And When I Die."

Incredibly gifted artist.

The other album I've listened to over and over this weekend?  Also a gifted artist.  Diana Ross.  THANK YOU came out at the end of 2021.  I liked it when it came out.  But I'm someone who listens and listens and then really gets into something as I am more exposed to it.  This is a great album.  It's amazing and if you've ever loved Diana's singing, this is an album you have to get.  She got a Grammy nomination for this one and that was more than deserving.  

She's confident and just nailing every note and every mood.  

Best track?

Too many!  "Thank You," "If The World Just Danced," "All Is Well," "I Still Believe" and especially "The Answer's Always Love."



I have an idea for a comic at THE COMMON ILLS, by the way.  It'll be a kid's movie reference.  But I need to get rid of this headache.  If I can, it'll go up there.  If I can't, I may hold it for next weekend.



Here's C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot:"


Friday, April 14, 2023.  The western press continues to Turkey's bombing of Iraq last Friday (even though US service members were part of the convoy attacked), Moqtada has movement issues, the fundamentalist war on LGBTQ+ persons continues in the US, and much more.


Starting in Iraq with big news from their own personal Marjorie Taylor Greene.  Cleric and dwindling cult leader Moqtada al-Sadr failed at forming a government in 2022 and continues to be a failure.  AFP reports:

Iraqi cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr, who wields great influence over national politics, said Friday he was “freezing” for a year his powerful movement over “sinful” practices among supporters.

Al-Sadr, a Muslim Shiite leader, has the ability to mobilise tens of thousands of his supporters with a single message and presents himself as an anti-corruption champion, often clashing with Iraq’s political leadership.

He has repeatedly taken supporters and opponents by surprise with major announcements on social media, such as a Twitter message last year on his “definitive retirement” from politics.

In a statement shared on the cleric’s official Twitter page on Friday, Al-Sadr said he had decided to “freeze the movement… for at least a year”.


Ah, poor, tubby tyke, sounds like he's constipated.  AL MAYADEEN adds:

Al-Sadr said in a tweet that his inability to achieve reforms within the Movement goes at odds with his promises to reform the Iraqi system.  

The leader revealed that his party harbors “corrupt” and “unjust” individuals, whom he could no longer tolerate. 


It's just like when Marjorie and Lauren Boebert had their public break.

But it's so bad, Moqtada is even going off Twitter.  The sacrifices he's willing to make to continue to (mis)lead his cult.  As he has lost many followers, it's not surprising that he's now turning on some of the remaining ones and blaming them for the fact that he's never addressed corruption -- Sadr City remains a slum, Moqtada continues to have money -- but it is surprising that even now the western press (that includes AFP) can't note that his hold is not what it was and that his numbers continue to fall.  There was a time when he could turnout millions -- many years ago.  In more recent years, he'd hidden the growing defections by calling for assemblies on the backs of other causes to make it appear that he still commanded the same following.  He doesn't.  And his most recent action -- which just called for people to walk out of their homes in Sadr City -- found hundreds taking part.  To walk out the front door into their own streets.

Moqtada's failed to deliver.  A cult leader can accomplish a lot -- usually horrible things.  But the cult has to believe in him.  Moqtada's been in charge for too long and his excuses for failing to deliver have exposed him for the fraud he is.  That is why his numbers have decreased and why they continue to do so.

In other news, Saturday, Michael R. Gordon (WALL ST. JOURNAL) reported that the Turkish government carried out an attack Friday on a convoy in Iraq which included three US military members.  Outside THE JOURNAL, there hasn't been much interest among the US press (see this week's State Dept press briefing, for example, where no one even asked about it).  Today, 
Rabia İclal Turan  (AA) reports on remarks by US Pentagon spokesperson Patrick Ryder:

 

The convoy of YPG/PKK ringleader Ferhat Abdi Sahin, codenamed Mazloum Abdi, was targeted on April 7 by a drone strike near Sulaymaniyah International Airport. Three US personnel were in the convoy. The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) reported no injuries.

"On April 7, a convoy, including US personnel, was fired upon while in transit within the Iraqi Kurdistan region in the area near Sulaymaniyah," Ryder confirmed, adding that US forces are in Iraq and Syria in support of the "defeat ISIS mission."

"It struck more than 100 meters from the convoy and CENTCOM is currently investigating the incident," he added.

When asked what was the mission of the US personnel, he responded: "We're supporting the Iraqi security forces as part of the defeat ISIS mission. As you know, we have forces in Iraq. They're not conducting combat operations. They're advising and assisting the Iraqis. And then we have forces in Syria that are supporting the SDF."



The drone that attacked the convoy missed by slightly more than 100 yards, CENTCOM spokesman Col. Joseph Buccino said in a phone call Thursday.

"It didn't hit anything in the convoy," Buccino said.

Abdi is the leader of the Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish-led group that the U.S. has allied with in the fight against ISIS.

Responsibility for the strike has been widely attributed to Turkey, although Ankara has denied these claims.

The attack and its aftermath highlight the complicated nature of American relations in the Middle East, where troops tasked with containing ISIS are partnering with Kurdish units seen as threats by NATO ally Turkey, while also defending against attacks from Iran and its proxy militias.  


Even STARS AND STRIPES isn't trying to play like anyone but Turkey carried out the attack.  Despite this, Turkey continues to insist it wasn't them.  

In yesterday's snapshot, we noted the three deaths -- three people electrocuted.  We noted the heavy rain,  the corruption that allows the infrastructure to go unrepaired and climate change.  Today, 

Why it matters: Flooding is a regular occurrence in Iraq and late March saw flooding throughout the country. 

At the same time, Iraq is also experiencing desertification. The situation has worsened in recent years, and Iraq is often described as one of the most at-risk countries in the world to climate change. Iraq experiences relatively high water insecurity thanks to a lack of rainfall and poor water management.

The heavy rain has some potential benefits, despite the dangers. The water levels in eastern Iraq's al-Azim reservoir rose 30%, the Kurdish Iraqi news outlet Rudaw reported on Thursday. 

 

The Texas Senate has wasted little time this year passing every bill focused on LGBTQ Texans that Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick prioritized. In fact, the Republican-controlled chamber has even gone further than its ambitious and influential leader asked.

With more than six weeks left in the legislative session, the Senate has advanced legislation that would restrict schools’ role in discussing the existence of LGBTQ people, block transgender kids’ access to treatments that major medical groups support, ban trans college athletes from joining the sports teams that align with their gender identity, and defund public libraries that let drag queens read to children.

That quick movement — and a flurry of other bills that could restrict how LGBTQ people live — has many Texans and parents of trans kids afraid that political winds fueling the Republican Party’s intense focus is about to turn into a tornado that makes Texas completely inhospitable.


So let me be sure I understand this, heads did not roll after the disaster a few winters back where Texas' entire electrical system almost collapsed and they still haven't fixed the system (and have seen some 'rolling' issues) but they've got time to to attack LGBTQ+ people?  

At MSNBC, Michael A. Cohen notes a few hate merchants:

When it comes to LGBTQ Americans, the Republican Party has traded its dog whistle in for a train whistle.

This week, for example, during a legislative hearing on a bill that would make it a misdemeanor to use a bathroom that doesn’t match the sex a person was assigned at birth, Florida state Rep. Webster Barnaby called transgender people “demons” and “mutants.” 

“The Lord rebuke you, Satan, and all of your demons and all of your imps who come parade before us,” Barnaby thundered. “That’s right, I called you demons and imps, who come and parade before us and pretend that you are part of this world.”

Barnaby quickly apologized. But his comments, like many political gaffes, told an unpleasant truth: that bigotry and open hostility underpin the GOP’s continuing assault on the rights of transgender and other LGBTQ people. 

Indeed, Barnaby could take a lesson from Florida’s senior Republican senator, Marco Rubio, in how to use greater subtlety when being bigoted toward gay Americans.

On Wednesday, Rubio tweeted a short video by Lt. j.g. Audrey Knutson of the Navy Judge Advocate General’s Corps. Knutson, who identifies as nonbinary, spoke glowingly about their opportunity to read a poem at an LGBTQ spoken word night while stationed on an aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford. According to Knutson: “My grandfather served in the Navy in World War II. He was on board the USS Hornet. And he — it means a lot for me to be able to join the Navy, because he was a gay man in the Navy, and he had a really difficult service. So for me to join as nonbinary is really powerful to me and something that I’m certainly proud of.” 

For most Americans, this would be an inspiring story of service to one’s country. If not for the fact Knutson is nonbinary, one could easily imagine Rubio, who has never served in the military, praising it.

But instead, Knutson’s experience worries Rubio. “While China prepares for war this is what they have our @USNavy focused on,” he tweeted.

In relying on the most juvenile of gay stereotypes, Rubio is suggesting that gay, trans or nonbinary service members are simply not tough enough to fight America’s wars, especially against a rising power like China. Writing poetry is for sensitive emo kids, not killers. (Maybe someone should buy Rubio a book by Siegfried Sassoon.) 

It’s not every day you see a senator denigrating a member of the U.S. military, and it’s far from clear how an LGBTQ spoken word night undermines America’s ability to “prepare for war.” Indeed, one might argue that building camaraderie and acceptance in a diverse institution like the military is essential to enhancing unit cohesion. At a time when enlistment numbers in the military are in steep decline (the military missed its recruitment goals by 25% last year), welcoming all Americans — no matter their backgrounds or sexual orientations — seems more important than ever. 


Noting the bigots of her time, Tallulah Bankhead once declared,  "Too many of our countrymen rejoice in stupidity and look upon ignorance as a badge of honor.  They condemn everything they don't understand."



As over a dozen anti-trans bills are advancing in committees and legislative chambers in at least nine states including Florida, Texas, Tennessee, and South Carolina, other states are continuing to set the groundwork with policies to protect the trans community. 

Recently pro-trans bills in Colorado, SB188; and in Oregon, HB2002, have been moving through their respective state legislatures. 

The Colorado bill also known as “Protections For Accessing Reproductive Health Care” aims to protect individuals including trans people’s access to reproductive health care services and facilities, and prohibit discrimination based on reproductive decisions; and require health care providers to offer unbiased information about reproductive health care options. Furthermore the bill would protect those traveling from states with restrictive reproductive health laws to access care. 

Rep. Brianna Titone, an Arvada Democrat and the state General Assembly’s first out transgender member, calls the bill “imperative” to protect patients and medical professionals who provide health care to transgender people. 

“As laws around the country seek to prevent this care outside their borders, we need a shield to provide these essential services. SB188 will do just that,” she tells me. 

Erin Reed, a trans activist and journalist who testified in favor of the legislation in Colorado, spoke about how the law can help trans people and families in states such as Texas, Florida, and Tennessee where they are being targeted. 

“One of the most common questions that I am asked by families, almost daily, is the question, ‘Am I safe? Where can I go? Is it time to leave?’ Colorado is often one of the places I point these families to.” 

In an email, Meredith Gleitz, Policy Manager at One Colorado, the state’s leading advocacy organization dedicated to advancing equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) Coloradans and their families, called the measure “critical” for transgender people to be able to fairly access what is often lifesaving health care. 

“Research shows that gender-affirming care improves mental health and overall well-being for transgender people, and is recognized and endorsed by 29 leading medical organizations. In spite of its medical necessity and health benefits, access to gender-affirming care is being politically targeted, to the detriment of providers and patients - and attacks are intensifying,” she said. 

“Colorado needs shield legislation to protect patients and providers from interstate political attacks and to prevent further obstacles to accessing critical health care."

While Colorado’s trans community celebrates the state's continued progress in the right direction, the community in Oregon is also praising HB2002, which seeks to create a universal health care system for all residents of the state. The law would establish a new system called “Oregon Health Care Program” and would require health care plans to cover transition-related care including hormone therapy and gender affirming surgeries.   

The bill was shaped after the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade last June. In response, House Speaker Dan Rayfield, D-Corvallis, formed a legislative workgroup last summer that worked for several months to develop HB2002. 

“The right to access an abortion does not mean that abortion is accessible,” Rayfield said. 

Last week transgender and gender nonconforming Oregon residents as well as allies gave testimonies during a hearing on the measure, including Dr. Christina Milano, a doctor who provides transgender care at Oregon Health & Science University. 

“I hear a panic that we are opening up the gates, allowing young patients to come in and cajoling them and pressuring them to start pubertal suppression and pursue surgical procedures,” she said, noting that her team always works with a team of providers that includes endocrinologists and psychologists.

“Our teams work with exquisite caution and thoughtfulness.”

The state's Medicaid program, known as The Oregon Health Plan, as well as private insurance companies have all been required to provide coverage for medical care for transgender Oregonians since 2015. This law would expand the list of covered treatments. 

Seth Johnstone, the Transgender Justice Program Manager at Basic Rights Oregon, a nonprofit that advocates for the rights of LGBTQ individuals in the state, says the bill will help ensure trans and gender-expansive Oregon residents have access to life saving treatment and gender affirming care. 

“This bill will advance the Oregon value that everyone should be free to be who they are, and that everyone should have affordable access to medical care. As over 300 anti-LGBTQ2SIA+ bills have been introduced in state legislatures across the country this year, we’re proud to see Oregon lawmakers not only protecting existing rights, but also working to expand access for our community,” he said. 

“This landmark legislation will protect, strengthen, and expand equitable access to all forms of reproductive and gender-affirming care, and is based on recommendations developed by the Reproductive Health and Access to Care Work Group in December 2022.”

Johnstone states that Oregon has demonstrated clear values regarding healthcare, particularly with regards to reproductive and transgender-related care, and the recommendations made by Rep. Rayfield’s work group was “an affirmation and continuation of those values.” 

“We believe every person in Oregon deserves access to high quality healthcare, no matter who they are, where they live, or how much money they make.” 

Similarly, Illinois and California have also demonstrated their commitment to protections for the trans community.

In January, Illinois, led by out State Rep. Kelly Cassidy of Chicago, passed a bill to protect access to both reproductive healthcare and transgender healthcare. The bill, signed into law by Gov. JB Pritzker, expands healthcare access and options in the state and protects healthcare providers and patients who travel to Illinois to access essential care now banned in their home states. 

"This comprehensive legislation is proof that Illinois does not and will not stand by as hard-fought freedoms of the people of this state are taken away,” Cassidy stated. 

“It is further proof that protecting reproductive rights and gender affirming healthcare is broadly supported, contrary to Republican-led efforts to strip away the protections we all rely on. By partnering with community stakeholders, organizations, and our government colleagues, we are setting the example for other states and their reproductive and healthcare policy in a post-Roe world."

New York’s Assembly Bill 709, sponsored by Democrat assembly member Nily Rozicis, is a proposed measure that seeks to improve the treatment of incarcerated individuals based on their gender. If passed, the law would require that individuals in state and local prisons who identify as a gender different from their assigned sex at birth be addressed and provided with items like clothes and toiletries that match their gender. The bill would also establish a presumption that these individuals should be placed in correctional facilities with others who share their self-attested gender identity, unless they choose otherwise. Overall, the law seeks to ensure that incarcerated individuals are treated with respect and dignity, regardless of their gender. 

Elsewhere, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed SB04 in the state which modifies a previous law from 1976 known as the The Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act, expanding protections to LGBTQ Michigan residents. 

“No resident in Michigan should feel they have to hide their identity to ensure job security or successfully purchase a new home. This legislation protects individuals from harmful discrimination that has no place in our community,” said Michigan Senator Sue Shink (D-Northfield Twp) in a release. “I’m proud to be a part of a diverse body of legislators that understand discrimination based on sexual orientation, identity, or expression is an issue that needs to be prioritized and swiftly addressed.”

As states continue to shape legislation to protect the trans and gender nonconforming community, Minnesota is gearing up to add further protections for those living with HIV with SF3062, a bill that will appropriate ten million dollars set aside from the government’s general funds to help support community-based HIV/AIDS support services. 

The funds will be given to the commissioner of human resources who will then distribute it as grants to organizations that provide support services to people living with HIV or AIDS. The funding will be made available in the fiscal year 2024 and 2025. 

The bill has been referred to the Health and Human Services committee. 
With more than 480 anti-trans bills sweeping across the country, it’s crucial to remain vigilant about pro-trans legislation and ongoing efforts towards trans equality. While the fight for trans rights continues, it’s important to acknowledge states that are actively working to make a safe and inclusive home for trans and gender nonconforming people.



The following sites updated:






 
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Posted by Isaiah at 10:10 PM 0 comments
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