I always love it when we get a new comic from Isaiah. Bethany e-mailed asking two questions. What am I thinking about lately?
Lately, I am thinking a lot about the late Robert Parry of CONSORTIUM NEWS.
I cannot see him falling in line with the drum beating for War Hawk Joe Biden. I think Mr. Parry would be a strong voice talking about the need to have ethics and to stand by those ethics.
Bethany's second question: "I'm sure you eat but you never write about cooking."
Never? That does surprise me.
I cook on Sundays when the whole family comes over.
Other than that?
If a friend is visiting (say Treva), I will cook something.
Otherwise, not a whole lot. I have four sons and when they were young and lived at home -- and when my husband was still alive -- I cooked all the time.
Now it is really more salads and sandwiches or a soup. My granddaughter Tracey was over this evening and she was in the mood for tuna, so I whipped up some tuna salad.
My recipe? Two cans of tuna drained, mixed with one apple thinly sliced, with two tablespoons of walnuts crushed, with one-half of a yellow onion chopped, with four tablespoons of Hellman's mayonaise (I like the one with avocado oil), and three tablespoons of relish.
Sometimes I toast the bread but we bypassed bread and used crescent rolls instead.
Tuesday, July 7, 2020. Looking at the global pandemic and how Iraq is suffering from it.
Corona, corona.
From her album CHALK MARKS IN A RAIN STORM, that's Joni Mitchell performing "A Bird That Whistles (Corrina, Corrina)."
Starting
in the US and with me. A blogger e-mailed noting that he was
discussing the need for masks at his site and was encouraging others to
do so as well. He doesn't want a link so I won't link to him or name
him -- if he changes his mind, I will note him.
Masks.
It's not my job to tell you what to do. Presumably most of you are grown ups.
I can share what I do.
I wear a mask in public. I wear a mask in private if more than six people are present.
I'm in several at risk groups -- including medical (I'm diabetic and I'm back on chemo).
Do I think a mask is a save all?
No.
I
assume the mask helps others you're around. I also take the attitude
with the masks that we had regarding condoms during the AIDS crisis.
They weren't 100% effective (they can break) but you were safer using
them when you had sex.
What about our rights?
We're
in a pandemic. Traditionally, that means some rights get curtailed.
If the wearing a mask is an infringement on rights, it's an infringement
that I personally can go along with.
Other infringements, I probably would object to.
What should you do?
That's up to you. The numbers are increasing, in the US and in the world.
That's
Najaf in Iraq. It's all around the world, not just the US. If you
have ideas for how to reduce the spread of coronavirus, share them.
Share them online. If you want, you can even send them here and I'll
post regardless of where you stand on the issue -- for the rest of this
week only. It could spark a conversation that we need to have.
The
hope was always that the summer, the warm weather, would send the virus
packing for a few months or at least the warm weather would see a
significant reduction in new cases. That has not happened.
We would all love to see a vaccine but I'm doubtful we'll have that by the fall.
We need to have a national conversation on this issue.
The
president hasn't helped. Congress has outright failed us (refusing to
push for $1,200 a month for every American adult was failure -- and it's
cute how Bernie wanted to lead the charge vocally but didn't do a thing
to make it come true in the Senate).
People who feel the mask is a violation of their rights should especially be discussing what's going on right now.
This
is about public health and public safety. It's a dialogue that, in
this country, every one needs to take part in. That's what democracy is
about.
If you need something noted on cornavirus this week -- e-mail common_ills@yahoo.com and we'll note it.
According to WORLD OMETERS INFO,
Iraq has had 62,275 cases of coronavirus with 2,567 deaths. The CIA
estimates Iraq's population (no census has been done in decades) to be
38 million.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Monday that the COVID-19
pandemic provides new opportunities for the Islamic State extremist
group, al-Qaida and their affiliates as well as neo-Nazis, white
supremacists and hate groups.
The U.N. chief said it's too early to fully assess the implications of
the coronavirus pandemic on terrorism, but all these groups seek to
exploit divisions, local conflicts, failures in governing, and other
grievances to advance their aims.
Guterres told the launch of United Nations Counter-Terrorism Week that
the Islamic State group, which once controlled a vast swath of Syria and
Iraq, is trying to reassert itself in both countries, ``while thousands
of foreign terrorist fighters battle in the region.''
Notable Iraqi security analyst Hisham al-Hashimi was assassinated in Baghdad today, according to multiple reports.
On Monday, Agence France Presse reported that Hashimi was walking out of his Baghdad home when three gunmen on two motorcycles shot and killed him at close range.
Hashimi was a known and respected
commentator on Iraqi affairs who was particularly knowledgable on the
Islamic State. Just about an hour before his death, he tweeted
that division in Iraq was the result of the ethnic and religious quota
system put in place following the 2003 US invasion. The tweet, which
some shared after his death, has now been liked more than 11,500 times.
Horrifying video of the assassination today of #Iraq security expert Hisham al-Hashimi. Washington Post reports about threats al-Hashimi had received from #Iran-backed militia groups recently. 1/2
These pictures today from the funeral of Hisham Al-hashimi in the city of Najaf in central Iraq - there was no official funeral by the Iraqi state, nor a military presence , these are bad signs of the performance of the new Iraqi government.
I strongly condemn the assassination of Iraqi security expert Hisham Al-Hashimi last night in Baghdad. My heartfelt condolences to his family and loved ones. Authorities must find the perpetrators of this terror act and bring them to justice.
Condemn of killing 1 man, but not condemn the killing of servals Kurdish people by Turkish Airstrike. Bravo bravo you corrupt politican!
You people deserve to be overthrown and being punished by the law!
Yes, Turkey's assault on Iraq continues. TRINITY CHANNEL offers this report.
