You're
not funny nor are the charges facing Trump funny. This is serious and
stop treating it as a joke or using it as an excuse to justify your
sorry 2016 campaign.
Friday, June 9, 2023. A lunatic in Congress claims (lies) that the FBI
has stated that they can't protect a witness, no-surprise Tara Always
Changes Her Story Reade is yet again changing her story, the heavens
open with relief as the angels realized there wasn't a snow ball's
chance in hell that Pat Robertson was going to be at the Pearly Gates,
and much, much more.
Pat
Robertson has died. He said gay people caused hurricanes and wore
special rings which spread AIDS, and that gay marriage was worse than
murder. He's survived by this poster on the wall of Mike Pence's bedroom
pic.twitter.com/Shf5NThGZk
— Paul Rudnick (@PaulRudnickNY)
June 8, 2023
Let's
go from crazy Pat Robertson to crazy Tara Reade. TWITTER's had to
provide 'context' to a recent reTweet by Tara noting that it's a lie.
Poor Tara, if she were capable of embarrassment or shame, this would be a
very difficult time for her.
But all of her Tweets should come with context since she's so estranged from the truth. For example, Tara's labeled
this piece by Froma Harrop to be "slut shaming."
Is she that stupid or is she now on drugs? It's not slut shaming.
Froma does not go into Tara's past relationships or even mention them.
She's very clear that she doesn't believe Tara regarding her allegation
that Joe Biden assaulted her in the nineties. I honestly do believe her
but that's not "slut praising" anymore than Froma's slut shaming her.
People don't have to believe her. Ruth went over this in "
Tara Reade threatens to sit on George Takei and squash him"
when Ruth pointed out George Takei not believing Tara was assaulted is
not him slandering her. No one has to believe her and due to her own
credibility issues she's made even more people doubt her.
That's not what I really want to note.
I
also am not eager to point out her latest lie. Per her
'representative' (a woman who can't practice law in the US or in Russia
-- apparently, Tara's such a credit risk she can't get a local attorney
in either country), Tara told US Rep Matt Gaetz that she received
"intelligence" in Russia. She hasn't received intelligence -- or common
sense -- in any place she's lived or traveled. But Tara told Matt --
and according to her 'rep' she said so on THE HILL -- that she's
received "intelligence" that her life was being threatened and he
advised her to stay in Russia.
First off, if
true, let me say two words I'll probably never say again: Thank you,
Matt Gaetz. Now if you could encourage some other whack jobs to leave
the country . . .
Here's the thing though,
Tara's stated already that Matt's the one who warned her. That seemed
suspect but that was her story. Matt warned her and that's why she's
staying in Russia.
Now she's claiming that she got the "intelligence."
Take a moment to laugh and then we'll pick right back up.
I
wish we had time to call out Sabby Sabs and all the other garbage
praising Robbie of THE HILL for bringing nut job Tara Reade on. But we
don't. We will note he's a transphobe and a gay basher and so, Sabby
Sabs, we're not at all surprised to see you praising him.
That's
not why we bring it up. Nor to ask why Tara is obviously unable to get
shampoo in Russia -- but did get a really bad dye job.
No,
we're bringing her up because of the crazy in Congress. And this time
let's zoom in on US House Rep Anna Paulina Luna who Tara can't stop
reTweeting -- Tara loves those homophobes. Anna Lunatic is someone who
needs to be brought before the ethics board. Maybe if Democrats regain
control of the House they do that? This Tweet should never have
happened:
The
FBI stated "they were afraid the informant would be killed if
unmasked"? So the FBI, you insane lunatic, that has protected many
witnesses against the mob, has stated they have a witness that they
can't protect? Goodness that would be front page news . . . if it
actually happened.
But it didn't. And Crazy
Lunatic didn't make that statement on the floor of Congress, she did it
in a Tweet which means she's not protected from lying.
That
lie needs to be hammered and hammered. Merrick Garland needs to issue a
statement noting that the FBI has said no such thing.
These
people just make up crap and then those already struggling with reality
-- people like Tara -- hear it and start repeating it as truth.
If
the FBI told Congress that they had a witness they couldn't protect,
one of two things would happen in the real world: Kevin McCarthy, as
head of the House of Representatives, would be announcing that to the
American people or they all wouldn't be saying a word because they were
briefed on it in a closed session.
But
Lunatic puts it on TWITTER. I do feel some sympathy for Anna Lunatic.
If George Santos weren't in this Congress, she'd be getting a lot more
attention for all of her lies -- including that "Mexican" grandfather
that in fact was German. She's got her string of lies but George always
manages to soak up all the attention. Your day will come, Luna
Lunatic, your day will come.
And,
sadly, seriously sad, we will no longer be noting Bonnie Erbe's TO THE
CONTRARY. It has been a great program and has addressed many important
issues -- I'm sure it will continue to do so. But I was informed last
night about two panelists and I'm sorry I'm not promoting the program
anymore. I had no problem with their conservative fiscal views or other
conservative views. But there is a difference between conservative
views and the views of hate merchants. Applause to Bonnie for her work
over the years and hopefully my walking away will mean some others will
be interested in promoting the show -- the longest running show focusing
on women still in production.
Bonnie was
attacked in 2008 for refusing to join the dogpile on Sarah Palin.
Bonnie has been a brave face and voice for feminism. I applaud her.
But
there is a war going on in this country, a war against the LGBTQ+
community and I will not have this site, this platform do anything to
promote that war. And grasp that this means anyone can be dropped from
getting noted here if I'm dropping Bonnie.
"
What could we have done to stop the attacks on the LGBTQ+ community?"
LGBTQ NATION asks that at their site. I have an answer for that and
it's not pretty and probably not anything they want to here. But in
September, those of us who are arm-in-arm with the LGBTQ+ community fled
like fairweather friends and a number of LGTBQ+ members -- especially
sassy young Twinks -- decided to trash the man everyone was fleeing from
instead of standing up. Every tactic that now works for them when they
go after Dylan or whomever, they practiced that back in September and
people were too damn stupid to realize what was at stake. They're using
the same tactics -- that they perfected last September -- to attack
African-Americans -- and if you're struggling to see that, you are the
problem.
I can't go into this right now, it would take hours and hours. I might write about it this weekend.
But
that's the past and I can't change that. But what I can do to stop
attacks right now is not promote or elevate hate merchants.
Let's note whistle-blower Chelsea Manning as we turn to Iraq. Monday April 5th, WIKILEAKS released US military video of a July 12, 2007 assault in Iraq. 12 people were killed in the assault including two Reuters journalists Namie Noor-Eldeen and Saeed Chmagh. Monday June 7th, the US military announced that they had arrested Chelsea Manning and she stood accused of being the leaker of the video. Leila Fadel (Washington Post) reported
in August 2010 that Manning had been charged -- "two charges under the
Uniform Code of Military Justice. The first encompasses four counts of
violating Army regulations by transferring classified information to
[her] personal computer between November and May and adding unauthorized
software to a classified computer system. The second comprises eight
counts of violating federal laws governing the handling of classified
information." Manning had been convicted in the public square despite
the fact that she's been convicted in no state and has made no public
statements -- despite any claims otherwise, she had made no public
statements. Manning was now at Quantico in Virginia, under military lock
and key and still not allowed to speak to the press. Paul Courson (CNN) noted [Chelsea] is a suspect and, "He has not admitted guilt in either
incident, his supporters say." She was attacked repeatedly and then convicted and then pardoned. Alonso Matinez (EL PAIS) notes today:
In an interview with the Financial Times, Manning revealed that
she rarely faces hecklers regarding the intelligence leaks, but
occasionally experiences attacks related to her transgender identity.
She expressed her resilience, stating that she has become accustomed to
such criticism and that it no longer greatly affects her.
A
former Miss Iraq, Sarah Idan, has officially announced her run as a
Democrat for US Congress in California’s 30th District in November
2024.
Idan currently lives in Los Angeles and is the
founder of Humanity Forward, a nonprofit bipartisan organisation
“committed to building bridges among Muslims and Jews in order to
surpass borders and promote reconciliation, tolerance, mutual
understanding, and peace”.
The seat is currently held by
Adam Schiff, who will be leaving to run for the Senate. Schiff, who was
the House Intelligence Committee chair in 2021, had welcomed the
US administration's pledge to release a declassified report on who
killed Jamal Khashoggi, calling for the document to be made public
"without delay".
Western oil companies are exacerbating water shortages and causing pollution in Iraq as they race to profit from rising oil prices after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Water
scarcity has already displaced thousands and increased instability,
according to international experts, while Iraq is now considered the fifth most vulnerable country to the climate crisis by the UN. In the oil-rich but extremely dry south, wetlands that used to feed entire communities are now muddy canals.
Mahdi
Mutir, 57, worked as a fisher his entire life. For years, Mutir and his
wife woke at dusk, sailing along a thick network of canals in Al Khora,
a few kilometres north of Basra. The harvest was meagre but enough to
provide food for the family of seven.
That changed last year. Now, at the height of the rainy season, Mutir’s boat lies stranded in the mud.
“It
is the water station the Italian company built: they need water for
their oilfields,” Mutir said, pointing at the black smoke rising from
the Zubayr oilfield on the horizon.
To help
extract oil, companies pump large quantities of water into the ground.
For each barrel of oil, many of which are later exported to Europe, up to three barrels of water are pumped into the ground. And as Iraq’s oil exports rise, its water has dramatically fallen.
The
whole world is facing drastic climate change but climate models suggest
that Iraq will be among the worst effected. Back in March, Amr Salem (IRAQI NEWS) reported:
The
United Nations stressed that Iraq is suffering from a real water
crisis, calling for collective action to find solutions to this crisis,
the Iraqi News Agency (INA) reported.
The statement was made on Sunday by the Special Representative of the
Secretary-General for Iraq and Head of the United Nations Assistance
Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, during her
participation in Iraq Climate Conference held in the southern Iraqi city
of Basra.
“There is an urgent need to find solutions to the water crisis in Iraq,” Plasschaert stated.
Urgent
and it only gets more urgent each day. Already problems are evident. January 10th, Yale's School of Environment published Wil Crisp's article which opened:
Three years ago, the vast marshlands of southern Iraq’s Dhi Qar
province were flourishing. Fishermen glided in punts across swathes of
still water between vast reed beds, while buffalo bathed amid green
vegetation. But today those wetlands, part of the vast Mesopotamian
Marshes, have shriveled to narrow channels of polluted water bordered by
cracked and salty earth. Hundreds of desiccated fish dot stream banks,
along with the carcasses of water buffalo poisoned by saline water.
Drought has parched tens of thousands of hectares of fields and
orchards, and villages are emptying as farmers abandon their land.
For their biodiversity and cultural significance, the United Nations
in 2016 named the Mesopotamian Marshes — which historically stretched
between 15,000 and 20,000 square kilometers in the floodplain of the
Tigris and Euphrates rivers — a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The marshes comprised one of the world’s largest inland delta systems, a
startling oasis in an extremely hot and arid environment, home to 22
species of globally endangered species and 66 at-risk bird species.
But now this ecosystem — which includes alluvial salt marshes,
swamps, and freshwater lakes — is collapsing due to a combination of
factors meteorological, hydrological, and political. Rivers are rapidly
shrinking, and agricultural soil that once grew bounties of barley and
wheat, pomegranates, and dates is blowing away. The environmental
disaster is harming wildlife and driving tens of thousands of Marsh
Arabs, who have occupied this area for 5,000 years, to seek livelihoods
elsewhere.
Experts warn that unless radical action is taken to ensure the region
receives adequate water — and better manages what remains — southern
Iraq’s marshlands will disappear, with sweeping consequences for the
entire nation as farmers and pastoralists abandon their land for already
crowded urban areas and loss of production leads to rising food prices.
The Mesopotamian marshlands are often referred to as the cradle
of civilization, as anthropologists believe that this is where
humankind, some 12,000 years ago, started its wide-scale transition from
a lifestyle of hunting and gathering to one of agriculture and
settlement. Encompassing four separate marshes, the region has
historically been home to a unique range of fish and birdlife, serving
as winter habitat for migratory birds and sustaining a productive shrimp
and finfish fishery.
AP has observed, "Climate change
for years has compounded the woes of the troubled country. Droughts and
increased water salinity have destroyed crops, animals and farms and dried up entire bodies of water. Hospitals have faced waves of patients with respiratory illnesses caused by rampant sandstorms. Climate change has also played a role in Iraq’s ongoing struggle to combat cholera." And now action? Or what might pass for it. Khalid Al Ansary (BLOOMBERG NEWS) reported:
Iraq’s Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani on Sunday kicked off an
initiative to plant 5 million trees and palms across the country in an
attempt to alleviate some of the deleterious impacts of climate change, a
statement from his office said.
Iraq has suffered years of
drought, and more than 7 million people have been effected or lost their
incomes from agriculture and fishing, Al-Sudani’s office said. The
war-torn, oil rich country has experienced higher temperatures,
persistent drought, an increase in dust storms and a crop area cut by
half, all impacts of extreme weather caused by climate change.
Real action would be addressing the use of water by the oil industry -- water that's not going to the people.
On veterans' issues, Senator Bill Cassidy's office issued the following:
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. delivered remarks during today’s hearing on examining veterans’ access to long term care.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank
you to our witnesses for being here today to discuss how we can ensure
veterans have access to the long-term care and support they need.
Our
veterans sacrificed for us, so we owe it to them to work to identify
gaps in care and find ways to improve the experience they receive when
they work with VA to fulfill their long-term care needs.
Access to quality long-term care is an important part of honoring our commitment to our veterans.
It’s an issue that affects the veteran, their families, the caregiver, and the community around them.
We
must improve coordination between the VA, community providers, and
other stakeholders so that veterans and their families do not have to
struggle to access the support they earned.
As
the population of aging and disabled veterans increases, VA will need
to ensure high-quality and adequate staffing for VA medical facilities,
clinics, and community living centers, while also expanding its
footprint in the community.
I
support VA’s efforts to honor veterans’ preferences for when, where,
and how they receive long-term care. Veterans should have ultimate
control over their health care decisions from VA.
We
must also focus on caregiver support and recognize the vital role
caregivers play in the well-being of our veterans. We must provide
caregivers with the necessary resources, training, and support to ensure
they deliver the best care.
Our hope is that your testimony will help us figure out how to do that.
I thank you again for your testimony.
Let us honor our veterans' service and sacrifice by making sure they get the best care we can give them.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield.
Watch his remarks here.
Also on veterans issues, we're going to note this from Senator Tammy Baldwin's office:
Baldwin Successfully Pushes VA to Reexamine & Pay Earned Benefits to 600 Veterans After Doctor Misdiagnosed Conditions
Doctor who misdiagnosed veterans was terminated from Tomah VA
Baldwin has been advocating for new exams, proper compensation, and an investigation into doctor for 1.5 years
WASHINGTON, D.C. – After more than a year and a half
of advocating on behalf of Wisconsin veterans, Senator Tammy Baldwin
successfully pushed the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to identify
and reexamine approximately 600 veterans whose neurological conditions
were misdiagnosed by a doctor at the Tomah VA Medical Center. As a
result of the misdiagnoses, these veterans had been denied proper
benefits, compensation, and treatment. The VA will now work to complete
reexaminations and grant equitable relief for impacted veterans. The
doctor responsible for the misdiagnosis, Dr. Mary Jo Lanska, MD, has
been terminated from the Tomah VA.
Since 2021, Senator Baldwin has been working with multiple Wisconsin
veterans who reported that their traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and
other conditions were misdiagnosed by Dr. Lanska. Senator Baldwin had
been calling on the VA to investigate the pattern of misdiagnoses,
ensure misdiagnosed veterans get a new exam, and get the veterans the
proper compensation and benefits they are deserved.
After Senator Baldwin successfully pushed the VA
to review all of the compensation and pension exams that were done by
Dr. Lanska and reach out to impacted veterans, the VA announced today
that they identified approximately 600 veterans who received an exam
from Dr. Lanska that they plan to order reexaminations of and grant
equitable relief.
“Our veterans served us and we have an
obligation to serve them when they come back home. Unfortunately, many
of our Wisconsin heroes did not get the care at the VA that they
deserved," said Senator Baldwin. “I am glad to see that
after years of working alongside some of our veterans, hundreds of
Wisconsinites who have been wronged by the VA will be getting the care
and benefits that they earned.”
In a March meeting, Senator Baldwin pressed VA Secretary Denis McDonough
to investigate the pattern of misdiagnosis and shared the Wisconsin
veterans’ concerns. In August 2022, Senators Baldwin and Tammy Duckworth
(D-IL) sent a letter
to Secretary McDonough highlighting their concerns about TBI
misdiagnosis at the Tomah VA and pushing for answers about the process
for veterans who may have been improperly diagnosed and not receiving
the benefits they deserve. After hearing from additional veterans, in
September 2022, Senator Baldwin called
on the VA to conduct a comprehensive investigation into the practices
of this doctor to determine whether there is a broader pattern of her
misdiagnosing patients’ neurological disorders that are preventing
veterans from receiving care or benefits they earned.
###
Senator
Tammy Baldwin is an out lesbian and this is Pride Month so I'm going to
try to note something from an out member of Congress in each of the
snapshots for the rest of the month. Again, focusing on what we can
do. Again, I recommend LGBTQ Nation's "
What could we have done to stop the attacks on the LGBTQ+ community?" which, hopefully, we'll get everyone who cares about equality and fairness brainstorming.
The following sites updated:
