Pat Carroll has passed away. I honestly did not recognize the actress' name but, when I saw a photo, I recognized the face.
She
did a lot of TV. She was a regular on Suzanne Somers' SHE'S THE
SHERIFF. Back before the streaming wars, SHE'S THE SHERRIF was a sitcom
produced for syndication. It ran for 44 episodes with Ms. Carroll
playing the mother of Suzanne. Along with new shows not usually being
made for syndication (other exceptions in the 80s included IT'S A LIVING
and 9 TO 5 after both were cancelled by ABC), this was big news because
Suzanne was returning to series TV after THREE'S COMPANY. ABC and
others had tried to destroy her (and CBS got scared enough to cancel
their contract with her). Suzanne was supposed to be over. But she did
this show and she did HOLLYWOOD WIVES and, no, she was not over.
Before
she played Suzanne Somers' mother, Ms. Carroll was in syndication with
THE TED KNIGHT SHOW (ABC cancelled TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT and it did two
seasons of new episodes for syndication).
Pat
Carroll did a lot of TV including guest spots. On THE MARY TYLER MOORE
SHOW, Mary ended up in the hospital. She was embarrassed to tell Lou
Grant and the gang why. Turns out she needed to have her tonsils
removed. Pat Carroll played Mary's hospital roommate who found Mary far
too cheery.
Doris Day
fans should know Ms. Carroll from two films starring Ms. Day -- THE
BALLAD OF JOSIE and WITH SIX YOU GET EGG ROLL. THE BALLAD OF JOSIE is a
comedy western that seems to forever being playing on some channel
(usually EPIX). WITH SIX YOU GET EGGROLL was a blended family film.
Doris Day and Brian Keith fall in love and merge their families into
one. It was similar in plot to YOURS, MINE AND OURS but I prefer WITH
SIX YOU GET EGGROLL. It is funny and has so many great performers -- a
very young Barbara Hershey, George Carlin, Jamie Farr, and Vic Tayback.
Ms.
Carroll plays Doris Day's best friend in the film. It is a film that
she will probably be most remembered for. She voiced Ursula in WALT
DISNEY's THE LITTLE MERMAID.
The 94-year-old actress had won an Emmy and a Grammy. She was also nominated for a Tony.
Wednesday, August 3, 2022. Moqtada's calling on his goons to leave the
building, oil giants are getting rich while the people suffer, the FBI's
targeting activists and much more.
As working class families the world over struggle to afford basic
necessities amid historic inflation, driven by the pandemic and the
US-NATO war against Russia in Ukraine, the world’s largest multinational
oil corporations are announcing record profits.
Depending
on the western outlet, Iraq is currently in a crisis, a power struggle,
an "explosive political crisis" or something similar. I think I enjoy
THE ECONOMIST's use of "plague" best. But here's the thing,as Diana
Ross and Marvin Gaye once sang, "nothing's changed and it's the same as
it used to be."
Moqtada's loon goons are occupying an empty building that no one's using. And?
I
guess that's the twist that finally caught the interest of the western
press. We are seven days away from ten months since the elections were
held and still no prime minister, still no president.
That's what the struggle is about and the western press didn't see it as an issue months ago or even last month.
The occupying has apparently awakened them.
Most of us were aware of the struggle months ago.
And
Iraq has passed 2010. That's the year it set the record for the
longest time between elections and forming a new government. The world
record. The following year, Belgium took that record and, more recently
(2020), Belgium's broken its own record. But Iraq has now gone longer
than it did in 2010 and no one noticed or cared in the western press
until last week when Moqtada's cult began occupying an empty building --
as if that's what's important. There's no budget, for example, no
government budget and I'd argue that's a lot more important.
In normal times Iraq’s parliament can be a desolate place: many mps
do not bother to show up for work. Today it is full--though far short of
a quorum. On July 30th supporters of Muqtada al-Sadr, a cleric and
politician, stormed parliament. They have settled in for what they
promise will be an open-ended sit-in. Volunteers have been bringing
meals and tea; juice vendors roam the aisles. For once, mps have a legitimate reason for staying at home.
Iraq
has been without a proper government for almost ten months, the longest
period of paralysis since 2005; Mustafa al-Kadhimi has been hobbling
along as the caretaker prime minister. Such deadlocks are nothing new.
But the events of the past week have pushed the country in an ominous
direction.
I'm sure
that they're quite proud of that first paragraph - it would explain how
they overlooked their mistake in the second. 2005? Parliamentary
elections were held twice in 2005. The first, held in January, resulted
in the group that wrote Iraq's Constitution. By April 5th, three
months later, they were naming a president and a prime
minister-designate. The second, held in December, resulted in a long
delay between the elections and the naming of a prime minister-designate
(who then has 30 days to create a Cabinet and then can become prime
minister, per the Constitution). It would be six months before a prime
minister-designate was named (one picked by the US government). That
was long. But it was not eight months and a few days which was what
took place in 2010 and is "the longest period of paralysis." That was
the political stalemate. Nouri al-Maliki had lost and refused to step
down and, despite insisting initially that the votes would be respected,
the votes were tossed out by the US government which brokered a
contract, The Erbil Agreement, that gave Nouri a second term. In
exchange, Nouri agreed to various concessions in this contract. Despite
Barack Obama telling Ayad Allawi over the phone that The Erbil
Agreement had the full backing and support of the US government (he told
Allawi that to get Allawi to order his MPs back into Parliament), Nouri
used the contract to get his second term and then refused to honor any
of the promises made in exchange for that and the US government acted
like The Erbil Agreement never existed.
Even
without bringing in tubby Jalal Talabani into the story, there's a lot
there and it's surprising that THE ECONOMIST forgot it was 2010 that
Iraq had previously gone the longest between elections and the formation
of a government.
Previously.
And
now it's a crisis, to the western press. Now. Not when they hit the
eight month mark. Not when they passed the previous political
stalemate.
But now.
As Moqtada's cult occupies an empty building and apparently is served catered meals.
Journalist Rasha al-Aqeedi offers this take:
The chaos in Baghdad created by Sadrists is the biggest service to the Coordination Framework and Nouri al-Maliki. Images of livestock grazing in Iraq's parliament,the cooking,littering, and destruction of facility will cause social amnesia at the crimes committed by the militias
While THE NEW ARAB insists:
The Iraq Report: How audio leaks of former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki is adding fire to Iraq's political storm 
No
one's talking about the leaked audio anymore. And the western media
pretty much ignored those leaks. They were meant to destroy Nouri --
and the consensus on Arabic social media is that the US provided the
recordings -- but they didn't.
Moqtada
initially dismissed them until he was egged on to say something more and
then started screaming that the courts must hear these recordings, the
courts, the courts!!!!
The courts? Nouri's
always had the support of the judiciary. So that's one. Two, the
recordings aren't that bad. More were supposed to come. They never
did. Nouri trashed Moqtada in the recordings.
And?
The
two have never gotten along. Moqtada used to run like the coward he is
from Iraq to Iran at just the possible chance that Nouri might arrest
him. The two hate each other.
What's Nouri saying in the recordings?
Basically, that things are tense and Moqtada's causing tension.
And these were released before Moqtada decided to have his goons occupy Parliament.
The recordings don't make Nouri look out of touch the way some had hoped. Moqtada's latest actions have ensured that.
That's
not an endorsement of Nouri. He's a thug and always will be. But, no,
the tapes, and Nouri's concerns that Moqtada's actions could lead to
strife and war in Iraq do not look that extreme now -- if they ever did,
even before Moqtada's latest public relations move to get more
attention for himself.
Moqtada's not at the protest. Like many a cult leader, he sends his followers off to places he's too scared to go himself.
Five
days Moqtada's goons have remained in the empty building -- even though
Parliament's not due to hold any sessions. And somehow this compares
to nearly ten months without forming a government? To the western press
it does.
Moqtada's goons are being catered to by more than just those bringing them meals.
And
a message is being sent by Mustafa al-Kadhimi, the 'caretaker' prime
minister. If you occupy Tahrir Square, you will be attacked by Iraqi
forces, you will risk your life. But if you occupy a government
building, for days, we will just look the other way.
Mustafa
is supposed to be the outgoing prime minister and he doesn't want to
be. Presumably, that's among the reasons he's backing Moqtada
currently. Equally true, he hates Nouri and the militias because they
have publicly called him a coward and a traitor. That's why he
disenfranchised so many of them when he changed the rules at the last
minute and refused to let them vote in October's early election.
Is there a legal reason that Mustafa's refused to eject the squatters from inside a government building?
Mustafa
is only prime minister because of The October Revolution. And yet all
he did for that group was offer some insincere words. He didn't prevent
them from being attacked. And, again, they were protesting in the
square, they hadn't seized a government building.
Mustafa's
allowing Moqtada's boys to stay in the building and he's allowing the
press to visit. That wasn't the case for The October Revolution. He
barred journalists from entry into those protests. He used COVID 19 as
his excuse for destroying their camp sites.
COVID hasn't gone away. Not around the world, not in Iraq.
That says a great deal to Iraq's young Shi'ites who took to the streets to try to make a better Iraq in 2019.
Between
that reality sinking in and the images harming Moqtada's 'movement,'
Moqtada's made the call to get his embarrassing goons out of the
building.
Senior #Sadr supporters were urged to abandon the sit-in inside the parliament, but they were encouraged to keep protesting inside the Green Zone.
#Iraq #Iraqprotest
Iraq’s Sadrists told to quit parliament but keep protesting
#Iraq’s Sadrists Told to Quit Parliament but Keep Protesting
Moqtada
has always been more of a press creation. He is not revered. He has a
cult following. He is not the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.
Senior Sadr supporter Mohamed Saleh al-Iraqi instructed hundreds of his
followers through tweet to leave the capital city of Baghdad’s
parliament building within 72 hours and join other Sadrists at a
“encampment in front of and around the building.”
“The pursuit of the sit-in is very significant because it will
solidify your demands,” al-Iraqi said in the tweet on Tuesday,
recommending that protesters take it in turns to remain at the protest
site.
The protestors will stay inside the Green Zone, which contains Iraq’s parliament, government buildings, and foreign embassies.
He added that there would be a sizable prayer gathering on Friday in the Green Zone.
The declaration led to confusion inside the parliament building,
where some authorities said demonstrators could stay in the main chamber
and a conference room despite the directives to remove them.
So
they'll remain in the Green Zone? The Green Zone has been breached --
something that was never supposed to happen. The US has civilians and
military personnel in the US Embassy in the Green Zone and has always
insisted it was a safe area. Yet no one in government is commenting on
this development, not the White House, not the State Dept and not the
Pentagon. I guess Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin doesn't know
anything about Iraq? Sudden case of amnesia?
In a reckless provocation that deliberately heightens war tensions with
China, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi landed in Taiwan late last night
aboard a military aircraft accompanied by her congressional delegation.
Despite concerns over the potential for a military clash or conflict
with China, the Biden administration came together with the entire US
political and military establishment in backing Pelosi’s trip. As Pelosi
landed in Taipei, an aircraft carrier strike group led by the USS
Ronald Reagan, with its full complement of fighter aircraft, attack
helicopters and other weapons systems, was positioned in waters off
Taiwan’s east coast.
The USS Ronald Reagan was accompanied by a
guided missile cruiser USS Antietam and a destroyer USS Higgins. The US
Navy also reported that the amphibious assault ship, the USS Tripoli,
was also operating in the area. Two US Air Force planes were reportedly
sent to Malaysia, where Pelosi held talks yesterday as part of the
military preparations for her trip to Taiwan.
US officials, the
American media and Pelosi herself promoted the lie that her trip and the
accompanying military operation was “routine,” and her presence in
Taipei did not deviate from decades of American policy and diplomacy.
Pelosi’s
trip is anything but routine. She is the highest-ranking US official to
visit Taiwan in more than a quarter century. Her visit is just the
latest in calculated steps taken by the Trump and Biden administrations
to undermine the One China policy that has been the foundation of
political relations between the US and China since formal diplomatic
ties were established in 1979.
Under the One China policy,
Washington de facto recognised that Beijing as the legitimate government
of all China, including the island of Taiwan. It broke off diplomatic
relations with the military dictatorship in Taipei and withdrew its
military forces from the island. At the same time, the US Congress
passed the Taiwan Relations Act to allow unofficial, low-level contact
with Taipei and the sale of so-called defensive weapons to Taiwan.
Over
the past six years, all that has dramatically changed. Top-level talks
and visits have been openly resumed; the US has for the first time
publicly acknowledged the presence of American troops on the island; and
arms sales, including of manifestly offensive weaponry, has escalated
along with the frequency of US warships passing through the narrow
Taiwan Strait.
Biden has deliberately ignored repeated Chinese
warnings that US actions were jeopardising the relations between the
world’s two largest economies and profoundly destabilising the
Indo-Pacific region. In a phone conversation with Biden last week,
Chinese President Xi Jinping warned that the US was “playing with fire,”
if it allowed the Pelosi’s trip to take place.
Shortly after
Pelosi landed in Taipei, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi again warned
that the actions of American politicians were incendiary over the issue
of Taiwan. “This will definitely not have a good outcome. The exposure
of America’s bullying face again shows it as the world's biggest
saboteur of peace,” he said.
On
July 29, 2022, the FBI raided the Uhuru House in St. Petersburg,
Florida and the Uhuru Solidarity Center in St. Louis, Missouri. The
raids were connected with the indictment of
a Russian national who is accused of attempting to “cause turmoil in
the United States” by engaging with “Unindicted Co-Conspirators” to act
as agents of the Russian Federation.
The
African People’s Socialist Party (APSP) is the organization targeted by
the FBI for a very simple reason. It is a Black organization which has
dared to confront and oppose U.S. imperialism. The alleged connection
with the Russian government kills two birds with one stone. The
Russiagate hoax is continually resuscitated as it gives new life to
claims of election and other interference and Black people’s
organizations are as always the first to be targeted by the State.
Every
individual and organization calling itself socialist, anti-imperialist,
Black nationalist, or anti-war should be in support of the APSP at this
moment. The APSP has done what they have every right to do, travel
anywhere in the world they choose, even to countries said to be
“adversaries” of the United States. They communicate with the people
they want to be in contact with and they espouse their beliefs freely.
As an anti-imperialist organization the APSP vehemently critiques both
U.S. foreign policy and its domestic regime, particularly as it engages
in continued oppression against Black people. All of these actions put
it firmly in the crosshairs of law enforcement and ensure that it will
be made an example of as the state cracks down on all those who oppose
its actions.
These
witch hunts are not new. They go back to the Palmer Raids of the
Woodrow Wilson administration, and the anti-communist attacks which
persecuted Paul Robeson and Claudia Jones among others. They morphed
into the CounterIntelligence Program, COINTELPRO, which destroyed the
liberation movement by killing and imprisoning leadership, and creating
intra-group dissension.
But
now the danger is somewhat different. In 1971 a group of anti-war
activists broke into an FBI office in Media, Pennsylvania. Would the
Washington Post, which was alone in printing the papers they had stolen,
and who ended up revealing the existence of COINTELPRO, now analyze the
facts in the case of APSP? Now the Washington Post is in the hands of
one of the richest people in the world, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, who also
has contracts with the CIA. The old media wasn't always reliably
interested in journalistic investigation, but could occasionally make
good on the dictum of comforting the afflicted and afflicting the
comfortable. Those days are no more.
The following sites updated:
