It should now be clear to all honest and sane people that the only collusion was between the corporate media and the Democratic Party to spin a phony tale.
The Russiagate investigation is as much a witch hunt as the despicable Donald Trump always insisted. The charge that Trump colluded with the Russian government in the 2016 election has been abandoned even by the people who turned the allegation into a well paid cottage industry. The Mueller investigation has come up empty and Democrats are scrambling to keep their creation alive in order to make themselves politically relevant. They should be planning how to go about giving the people what they need and want. But Medicare for All and any other proposals that would benefit the masses are off the table for them and their corporate donors.
They offered nothing, Hillary Clinton's campign, in 2016 and they better not pull that nonsense this go round. If 2020 finds another candidate offering nothing to the people, Donald Trump gets re-elected.
They always underestimate him.
Equally true, they over-estimate themselves.
Ms. Clinton wanted Mr. Trump to be the nominee. Her campaign worked with friends in the press to elevate him. She was convinced she would win easiest up against him.
Did not turn out that way.
Ms. Clinton ran a lousy campaign and Mr. Trump ended up President Trump.
This is C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot" for today:
“Because I fled from my home in #Mosul and saw first-hand the havoc that war causes, I am reminded that kindness and empathy are fundamental characteristics that an obstetrician and gynecologist should possess.”
- Dr. Saba, an obstetrician and gynecologist.
#WomensDay
Today's International Women's Day.
First adopted by the UN as an international day to advance women’s rights and gender quality in 1975, International Women’s Day is celebrated across the world. There are a number of events scheduled across Iraq and the Kurdistan Region on Friday.
I gotta find peace of mind
I know another cord
I gotta find peace of mind
See, this what that voice in your head says
When you try to get peace of mind
I gotta find peace of mind
I gotta find peace of mind
He says it's impossible, but I know it's possible
He says it's impossible, but I know it's possible
-- "I Gotta Find Peace of Mind," written by Lauryn Hill, first appears on her MTV UNPLUGGED NO. 2.0
Zainab met Zainab in Mosul.
Both women lost a leg during Iraq's war.
Neither are giving up on life.
Their courage inspires us. Which women inspire you? #InternationalWomensDay
An early observation event took place in Baghdad yesterday:
Deputy Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General (DSRSG) Alice Walpole addressed the meeting, along with Dr. Mahdi Al-Allaq, Secretary-General of the Council of Ministers, who represented the Prime Minister; Dr. Thikra Alwash, Mayor of Baghdad and Chair of the Standing Committee on the Advancement of Women; UN Women’s Representative, Ms. Dina Zorba and UNFPA Representative, Dr. Oluremi Sogunro; as well as the Director-General of the Directorate for the Empowerment of Iraqi Women, Dr. Ibtisam Aziz.
In her remarks, DSRSG Walpole welcomed the upcoming discussions in Parliament on updating the Anti-Domestic Violence Law. “We need to acknowledge that domestic violence diminishes and shames all of society; it is a threat not just to women but to society itself,” she emphasised.
Reflecting on the challenges facing displaced women across Iraq, DSRSG Walpole noted that “They continue to suffer the brutal consequences of the recent conflict”.
Domestic violence is global. It's also terrorism. US House Rep Karen Bass, on Thursday, chaired the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security. Her opening remarks included the following:
“I
am pleased that the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland
Security is holding our first hearing of this 116th Congress about our
critical duty to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act. This law
has been successful at attempting to change policies that have led to
injustices, and too-often indifference to victimization and suffering,
throughout our country’s history.
“It is important to review how we arrived at this moment.
“This month has a special significance that is relevant to this hearing because it is celebrated as Women’s History Month. In 1980 President Jimmy Carter first designated March 2nd through the 8th, as Women’s History week.
“Seven years later in 1987, Congress passed Public Law 100-9, designating March as “Women’s History Month.”
“Seven years after that in 1994, Congress passed Public Law 103-322, the Violence Against Women Act of 1994, which we call “VAWA,” a landmark piece of legislation, which began with bipartisan support in both the House and in the Senate.
“This year we celebrate the 25th Anniversary of VAWA, since President Bill Clinton signed the first VAWA into law on September 13, 1994.
“On this day, March 7th, President Barack Obama signed our last VAWA in 2013.
“And today, on the 6th year anniversary of VAWA’s last passage, we are holding this hearing to address the urgency of now in reauthorizing this vital legislation, which addresses the needs of all victims and survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.
“As a result of this historic legislation, which has unarguably proven critical in the lives of so many survivors, every state has enacted laws making stalking a crime and strengthened their criminal rape statutes.
“While this legislation is named the “Violence Against Women Act”, this is a gender neutral legislation, which responds to the needs and care of all survivors—men, women, and children alike.
“For centuries, women have fought vigorously to demand changes in our federal laws, not simply for their own benefits, but for others as well, because they sought progress. VAWA is no exception in that regard.
“As Shirley Chisolm once said, you don’t make progress by standing on the sidelines, whimpering and complaining. You make progress by implementing ideas.
“We have made progress in VAWA 2000, 2005, and 2013 – but the statistics remain alarming and unacceptable.
“Domestic violence claims at least 2,000 lives each year. Seventy percent of the victims are women. Most “intimate partner” homicides, in which a person targets a spouse, boyfriend or girlfriend, are committed with firearms.
“An astounding 17,500 victims disclosed the use or threat of firearms being used during abuse.
“It is important to review how we arrived at this moment.
“This month has a special significance that is relevant to this hearing because it is celebrated as Women’s History Month. In 1980 President Jimmy Carter first designated March 2nd through the 8th, as Women’s History week.
“Seven years later in 1987, Congress passed Public Law 100-9, designating March as “Women’s History Month.”
“Seven years after that in 1994, Congress passed Public Law 103-322, the Violence Against Women Act of 1994, which we call “VAWA,” a landmark piece of legislation, which began with bipartisan support in both the House and in the Senate.
“This year we celebrate the 25th Anniversary of VAWA, since President Bill Clinton signed the first VAWA into law on September 13, 1994.
“On this day, March 7th, President Barack Obama signed our last VAWA in 2013.
“And today, on the 6th year anniversary of VAWA’s last passage, we are holding this hearing to address the urgency of now in reauthorizing this vital legislation, which addresses the needs of all victims and survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.
“As a result of this historic legislation, which has unarguably proven critical in the lives of so many survivors, every state has enacted laws making stalking a crime and strengthened their criminal rape statutes.
“While this legislation is named the “Violence Against Women Act”, this is a gender neutral legislation, which responds to the needs and care of all survivors—men, women, and children alike.
“For centuries, women have fought vigorously to demand changes in our federal laws, not simply for their own benefits, but for others as well, because they sought progress. VAWA is no exception in that regard.
“As Shirley Chisolm once said, you don’t make progress by standing on the sidelines, whimpering and complaining. You make progress by implementing ideas.
“We have made progress in VAWA 2000, 2005, and 2013 – but the statistics remain alarming and unacceptable.
“Domestic violence claims at least 2,000 lives each year. Seventy percent of the victims are women. Most “intimate partner” homicides, in which a person targets a spouse, boyfriend or girlfriend, are committed with firearms.
“An astounding 17,500 victims disclosed the use or threat of firearms being used during abuse.
The story hit the news
From coast to coast
They said you beat the girl
You loved the most
Your charitable acts
Seemed out of place
With the beauty
With your fist marks on her face
Your buddies all stood by
They bet their
Fortunes and their fame
That she was out of line
And you were not to blame
From coast to coast
They said you beat the girl
You loved the most
Your charitable acts
Seemed out of place
With the beauty
With your fist marks on her face
Your buddies all stood by
They bet their
Fortunes and their fame
That she was out of line
And you were not to blame
Six hundred thousand doctors
Are putting on rubber gloves
And they're poking
At the miseries made of love
They say they're learning
How to spot
The battered wives
Among all the women
They see bleeding through their lives
I bleed
For your perversity
These red words that make a stain
On your white-washed claim that
She was out of line
And you were not to blame
Are putting on rubber gloves
And they're poking
At the miseries made of love
They say they're learning
How to spot
The battered wives
Among all the women
They see bleeding through their lives
I bleed
For your perversity
These red words that make a stain
On your white-washed claim that
She was out of line
And you were not to blame
In the face of adversity, women persevere. That is especially true of Iraqi women. The ongoing war is largely forgotten by the news media. They live in war zones, Iraqi women, they face non-stop attacks on their rights. In January, a fire killed 8 women. And the media dithered over how to term the facility. "Women's shelter" was offered. How bloody noble. No, it was a prison. The 'crime' -- the women were homeless. "Lock them up"? By the time reality had intruded on the tale, momentary media attention had largely moved on. The moment of justifiable outrage was missed as the media 'kindly' named a prison a "women's shelter."
Dropping back to January 5th:
ALJAZEERA typed the following:
A fire at a women's shelter in Iraq's capital has killed several lodgers, according to police, who gave conflicting accounts of the tragedy.
Mohammed Jihad, Baghdad's
police lieutenant colonel, called the incident a "group suicide" caused
by women rioting in the shelter on Friday.
Why are women in a shelter rioting?
Apparently, they weren't in a shelter, they were in a women's prison. Whether they rioted or not is not clear. But MIDDLE EAST MONITOR reports:
In a statement to Anadolu
Agency, Police Captain Ahmed Khalaf said that the prison – which was
specifically for homeless female prisoners – experienced riots, though
he did not elaborate on the cause of the disturbance. The riots then
seem to have sparked a fire, causing an unspecified number of inmates to
suffocate.
[. . .]
Iraqi security forces take all
displaced or homeless people from the streets and places them in a
prison, which is run by the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.
In addition, this prison also imprisoned women who had children but were not married. How the hell do prisons like that exist in Iraq?
It's one battle after another for women in Iraq. EURONEWS notes the killing of high profile women in Iraq:
Hanaa Edwar, a women’s rights
activist and co-founder and chair of the Iraqi-Amal Association for
human rights, thinks it is disturbing that months after Fares' death,
investigations have yet to produce any results. “Why this silence on
women’s issues?” asks Edwar.
She remembers that an Interior Ministry official stated on Iraqi TV that he was aware of who was behind Fares' murder.
“He said very clearly that we know who killed Tara Fares,” says Edwar.
Iraq’s biggest militia groups are often connected to political parties and operate with a large degree of impunity.
Edwar believes that the reason Fares' murder remains publicly unsolved is because she was killed by a militia.
“I don't know exactly who, but it
seems that it [the murder] was an intervention by one of the non-state
groups that influence the Iraqi state.”
Edwar adds that she believes that Fares was killed by conservative groups who were angry at how freely Fares lived her life.
In the video above United Nations General Assembly President Maria Fernanda Espinosa states, "And we need more women leaders, participating in public life and taking decisions."
In the US, six women are currently seeking the Democratic Party's 2020 presidential nomination:
Coming up in 15 minutes on the Karen Hunter show!
Listen to my conversation on the WICKED Podcast. Episode 7.
Join me for campaign events in Nevada on March 14 and March 15! RSVP here:
Truth emerges from deep within, like a small seed within our consciousness which, if nurtured and sustained, will grow into the biggest tree. A political truth-teller is someone who throws around the seeds; the soul of a citizen is the ground in which it grows.
Join us as we work for a #PeaceDividend—taking the trillions spent on regime change #war & nuclear arms race & investing them to ensure #healthcare for all, combat climate change, rebuild our infrastructure, & meet the needs of all Americans. Donate today.
Thank you, @senmcsallyaz, for your service to our country and for your courage in coming forward to share your story in the mission to put an end to military sexual assault.
Tulsi Gabbard Retweeted
It's really hard for scientists to research marijuana, but @TulsiGabbard's bill could fix that. #CannabisCountry @SafeAccess @NORML
cir.ca/2VI6QeG
# of people arrested for marijuana law violation in 2017: 659,700
# of those charged with marijuana law violations arrested for possession only: 599,282 (90.8 percent)
I intro'd bipartisan bill today to END THE FEDERAL MARIJUANA PROHIBITION. Congress must act now #EndTheDrugWar
As a society, we cannot play politics with fundamental rights. Make no mistake: affordable and meaningful health care should be thought of as a human right and civil right.
97% of Americans support universal background checks. 97%. These background checks can save lives. My colleagues and I are calling on Republican leadership to hold critical hearings on the background check bill that passed the House.
People in power are trying to convince us that the villain in our American story is each other. I reject that. I believe when we come together to fight for what’s morally right, we can create change in every part of our country.
On March 7, 1965, peaceful protestors were unjustly beaten back by state troopers as they attempted to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in the fight for voting rights. A brighter future requires acknowledging our painful past. Their fight for social justice lives on through us all.
It’s time for my colleagues across the aisle to do the right thing for our country: say no to the President’s unconstitutional emergency declaration.
My view on Manafort sentence: Guidelines there for a reason. His crimes took place over years and he led far from a “blameless life.” Crimes committed in an office building should be treated as seriously as crimes committed on a street corner. Can’t have two systems of justice!
Today is the 54th anniversary of the bloody march in Selma. I will never forget how moving it was to commemorate this day with march leader @RepJohnLewis at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in 2013.
Let’s follow his example and continue to fight for voting rights for all.
.@SherrodBrown and I came into the Senate together and I ended my book with a Sherrod story because there is no one who better exemplifies what we SHOULD be doing in DC than him (and for that matter @ConnieSchultz). Look forward to standing with him to uphold the dignity of work
Some military families have been living in toxic homes while the private companies that oversee them make a guaranteed profit. I’m working on a new bill to fix that broken system. In the meantime, @DeptofDefense needs to start enforcing the rules that are already on the books.
0:03 / 7:04
Are they joking? @Equifax didn’t take data security seriously because it had no financial incentive to do so. That’s why we need my bill with @MarkWarner to impose automatic fines for data breaches at companies like Equifax & stop this from happening again.
The average student in Massachusetts graduates with $32,065 in student loans. Instead of jump-starting their lives and careers, they’re being weighed down by debt. I’m co-sponsoring @SenBrianSchatz’s #DebtFreeCollege bill to make sure every student can build an economic future.
DHS @SecNielsen testified today that @CBP “never purposely put a child in a cage." False.
I went to the processing center in McAllen, TX. I saw cages of people with my own eyes. Men, women, and children treated like animals. We must hold the Trump Admin accountable.
#InternationalWomensDay is more than a celebration—it's also a call to action. As far as we've come, we still have barriers to tear down so we can all have equal opportunity and respect. Let's keep marching, and with every step, let's reach back and pull others up with us.
is more than a celebration—it's also a call to action. As far as we've come, we still have barriers to tear down so we can all have equal opportunity and respect. Let's keep marching, and with every step, let's reach back and pull others up with us.
In our modern society, a free and neutral internet is not a nice-to-have—it's a lifeline for opportunity and innovation, and a necessity for connecting to each other. We can't let corporate greed get in the way. #NetNeutrality
President Trump's relentless and dangerous attacks on women's constitutional rights—and interference in doctors' ability to care for their patients—cannot go unanswered. If his Title X gag rule isn't overturned in the courts before then, I'll undo it on day one of my presidency.
Voting is the backbone of our democracy. Every eligible voter should get to participate, period. Let's make Election Day a federal holiday so you don't have to take time off work to exercise your rights. #HR1
Let's note this:
“We are women from 
, from Falluja, the city of 
. The women of Al-Anbariya are the leaders+mentors of homes and society.
I congratulate the courageous 
, the teachers, the doctors, all Iraqi women. We, as women, want change to happen in our societies.” Said Jinan #IWD2019
, from Falluja, the city of . The women of Al-Anbariya are the leaders+mentors of homes and society.
I congratulate the courageous , the teachers, the doctors, all Iraqi women. We, as women, want change to happen in our societies.” Said Jinan #IWD2019
No walls, no war
No cause, no weapon is formed
No law, what for?
You are where I go to hide
You are where I go to heal
You are where I go to feel
To remember what is real, ooh
No cause, no weapon is formed
No law, what for?
You are where I go to hide
You are where I go to heal
You are where I go to feel
To remember what is real, ooh
You are my favorite place
You are my sacred space
Yes you are, yes you are, yes you are
Ooh
You are my sacred space
Yes you are, yes you are, yes you are
Ooh
-- "Sacred Space," written by India Arie and Shannon Sanders, first appears on India's new album WORTHY
The following sites updated:
