Tuesday, December 15, 2020

Truest statement of the week

CNN’s media reporter Brian Stelter appeared to answer my question from a couple days ago on whether the media would bury that scandal involving Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell. The answer is now clearly yes. Indeed, Stelter was critical of coverage on Fox as excessive on the Biden scandal as his network continues to downplay or bury both the Biden and the Swalwell stories. To cover the Biden story would expose CNN’s own failure to honestly report a major story before the election in order to protect Biden. This is scandal that not only raises the possible criminal prosecution of the son of the incoming president but involves emails and evidence that directly contradict Joe Biden’s past denials of knowledge or involvement. Stelter however views the problem as covering the story too much.  It seems that it is not Biden controlling the media but the media simply controlling its “portions.”

CNN has been hammered for its bias in burying or downplaying these stories. Recently, CNN was hit with a secretly taped recording of President Jeff Zucker telling CNN personnel to hit Trump even harder and CNN host Jake Tapper is heard complaining that the “rightwing is going crazy” on the Hunter Biden story.  Recently, CNN analyst April Ryan lashed out at reporters using an embarrassing recording of Joe Biden and suggested that the confidential source should be identified.

This is the network that exhaustively ran every allegation against President Trump and his family, including a long line of false stories connected to the Russian collusion theory. Yet, Stelter is now declaring that the coverage of the Biden story is simply too much:  “Journalism is all about proportionality, and Fox has a big problem with portion control.”  There was no portion control problem in CNN covering Russian collusion stories that were later debunked. There is no concern about the virtual blackout on coverage of a Democratic member of the House Intelligence Committee who reportedly was seduced by a Chinese intelligence agent.  There is no problem on the blackout on the Hunter Biden.  I supposed the best portion control is no portions at all.

 

-- Jonathan Turley, "'Portion Control': CNN's Stelter Slams Coverage of Hunter Biden Scandal As CNN Buries Both The Biden And Swalwell Stories" (JONATHANTURLEY.ORG).


 

 

 

Truest statement of the week II

 

The revelation that Hunter Biden is being criminally investigated for his business activities in China came on Monday from the investigative target himself, and he predictably and self-servingly depicted it as just a narrow probe about his “tax affairs” by the U.S. Attorney for Delaware. As I wrote last night, that by itself would be significant enough — the documents published in the weeks before the election by The New York Post contained ample information about exactly that matter, yet were widely repressed by a union of mainstream news outlets, the intelligence community and Silicon Valley based on propaganda and lies. But new reporting suggest the investigation has been far broader.

“The federal investigation into President-elect Joe Biden’s son Hunter has been more extensive than a statement from Hunter Biden indicates,” Politico reported Monday night. Specifically, “the securities fraud unit in the Southern District of New York also scrutinized Hunter Biden’s finances”; “investigators in Delaware and Washington were also probing potential money laundering and Hunter Biden’s foreign ties”; and “federal authorities in the Western District of Pennsylvania are conducting a criminal investigation of a hospital business in which Joe Biden’s brother James was involved.” CNN’s Shimon Prokupecz added that “at least one of the matters investigators have examined is a 2017 gift of a 2.8-carat diamond that Hunter Biden received from CEFC [China Energy’]'s founder and former chairman Ye Jianming after a Miami business meeting.”

All of these topics are what the large bulk of the U.S. media, working in concert with the intelligence community and Silicon Valley, suppressed prior to the election. One of the first New York Post articles based on materials from Hunter’s laptop, headlined “Emails reveal how Hunter Biden tried to cash in big on behalf of family with Chinese firm,” described how he “pursued lucrative deals involving China’s largest private energy company — including one that he said would be ‘interesting for me and my family,’” and specifically noted that Hunter “was identified as ‘Chair/Vice Chair depending on agreement with CEFC,’ an apparent reference to the former Shanghai-based conglomerate CEFC China Energy Co.”

That was the same email that referenced ten percent to be “held by H for the big guy” — which one of Hunter’s business partners on the email chain, Tony Bobulinski, stated categorically referred to Joe Biden. The Wall Street Journal columnist Kimberly Strassel similarly reviewed numerous laptop documents and reported that “records produced by Mr. Bobulinski show that in 2017, Hunter Biden and James Biden were involved in negotiations about a joint venture with a Chinese energy and finance company called CEFC China Energy," adding that the documents also “make clear that Hunter Biden saw the family name as a valuable asset, angrily citing his 'family’s brand' as a reason he is valuable to the proposed venture." 

The pre-election article I wrote and was blocked from publishing by The Intercept, which precipitated my departure from that outlet, extensively discussed these documents’ revelations regarding the attempts by Hunter and Biden’s brother Jim to exploit the former Vice President’s influence in China to generate profit for the Biden family. Among other things, the censored article described “the Biden family's pursuit of business opportunities in China,” referenced “proposals for lucrative business deals in China that traded on his influence with his father,” discussed the possibility suggested by the emails that “Hunter along with Joe Biden's brother Jim were planning on including the former Vice President in at least one deal in China,” and argued that these documents raise the critical question of “whether Biden ever knew about business proposals in Ukraine or China being pursued by his son and brother in which Biden was a proposed participant.”

All of these vital facts and questions about Hunter’s activities in China were largely suppressed from the voting population by the bulk of the U.S. media, working in tandem with Silicon Valley (which simply prevented the story from being discussed and shared on its key platforms), and the intelligence community. 

 

-- Glenn Greenwald, "With News of Hunter Biden's Criminal Probe, Recall the Media Outlets That Peddled the 'Russian Disinformation' Lie" (SUBSTACK).

 

 

 

 

 

 

A note to our readers

Hey -- 

 

Tuesday night. 


Let's thank all who participated this edition which includes Dallas and the following:


The Third Estate Sunday Review's Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess and Ava,
Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude,

Betty of Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man,
C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review,
Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills),
Mike of Mikey Likes It!,
Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz),
Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix,
Ruth of Ruth's Report,
Wally of The Daily Jot,
Trina of Trina's Kitchen, 
Marcia of SICKOFITRDLZ,
Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends,
Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts,
and Ann of Ann's Mega Dub.



And what did we come up with? 



 

 

 Peace,


-- Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, Ava and C.I.

 

 

 

Editorial: The corporate media really hopes we forget

 The people of Iraq have been living a war for many years now. Thousands have been killed and almost a million people have been displaced, forced to flee their homes. The people of Iraq are in desperate need of food, shelter and other humanitarian aid. Please donate today and help the innocent civilians of Iraq. To donate visit www.onenationuk.org 100% donation policy

 

It's the season of giving.   Strange, isn't it, how Iraq's not noted by the corporate media.  Is it guilt?  More likely, it's just they know they lied to start that war and they know the American people know that they lied to start that war so they feel they should cover something else -- anything! -- to try to ignore how their reputations are destroyed.  


But we're not going to forget.  


We're not going to forget that over million Iraqis are dead, that people from other countries (including the US) were sent there to fight and were left wounded or dead. 


Most of all, we're not going to forget that no outlet bothered to make up for their lousy coverage.  And no outlet today can claim to have gotten it right.


MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS did not get it right.  They existed then.  They printed the same lies as everyone else.  KNIGHT RIDDER got it right.  It is no more.  That's the lesson in the world of corporate media -- lie and you'll get away with it, tell the truth and they close your doors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TV: The tragedy in HBO's Bee Gees' documentary

"I'm beginning to recognize the fact that nothing is true.  Nothing.  It's all down to perception," Barry Gibb declares at the beginning of THE BEE GEES: HOW CAN YOU MEND A BROKEN HEART.  Consider it a warning as to just how untruthful the 'documentary' HBO premiered Saturday actually is.

3 JESS

The Bee Gees?  A pop group made up of three brothers: Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb.  They had popularity for many decades but not a great deal of critical success.  The 'documentary' skirts the reality of what that was.  It notes, for example, the sixties minor hit (major for the group but minor -- placing at number 11 in the US) "Massachusetts.'' It fails to note that the song, full title: "(The Lights Went Out in) Massachusetts," was seen by many as the blatant rip off of John Phillips' "San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair)" that it is.  John wrote the song for Scott McKenzie who had a hit with it.  Released May 13, 1967, the song went to number four in the US and number one in the UK.  It's a detail 'expert' Mykaell Riley leaves out of his 'commentary' for the special -- despite the fact that he qualifies for a state pension in the UK -- meaning he's old enough to remember both songs in real time.  Also despite the fact that, in numerous interviews, Barry Gibb publicly admitted that Robin, who came up with the 'idea' for the song, was trying to write a folk anthem like John Phillips' song and the Flower Pot Men's "Let's Go To San Francisco."


Why is it important?  It's factually important -- Barry Gibb's opening remarks aside, facts do matter.  It also goes to why the group was never granted the critical praise that other acts that made it big in the UK were.  The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the Small Faces, the Kinks, the Who?  They all pioneered some form of an original vision.  The Bee Gees coasted through copying others.  Not included in the special?  Barry's many remarks about how they were "basically dead in 1975.  The Bee Gees sound was basically tired."  As happened over and over with the group, they immediately tried to transform into something else.  Their first hit, "New York Mining Disaster 1941," had been repeatedly mistaken for a Beatles track.  Time and again, they copied others and rode waves created by others.  Unlike Madonna, another magpie, they never offered the definitive song of any genre they jumped onto. 


This ability to constantly reinvent themselves is what led them to their disaster, the film SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND.  Only a group who really didn't know themselves and had no concrete identity would ever think they could re-record a classic album by the Beatles and star in a film 'based' on it without being publicly rebuked and ridiculed. It's why John Rockwell wrote, in THE NEW YORK TIMES (March 19, 1978), "When the disco trend sputters out, the Bee Gees will probably rally and reappear a few years later purveying the next hot style."  It's why Barry says ,in the documentary, of their 1975 MAIN COURSE album,  "They were about to drop us.  We had to adopt a new sound.  We had to adopt a new attitude."


We could write a multi-volume book about all the lies and errors in the special.  We're going to instead move to the narrative regarding disco and zoom in on that.  The 'documentary' tries to tell you that (a) the Bee Gees were defeated as popular recording artists because of the death of disco and (b) that disco was killed off by racists and homophobes.  


Both narratives are simplistic and artificial.


Let's deal with the latter because this really enraged us.  


Women.  


Where are the women?  Lulu, British pop star, appears but only because she was married to a Brother Gibb.  The men behind the 'documentary' -- Frank Miller (director and producer) and Mark Monroe (screenwriter and producer) can't find any women worth talking to.  This despite the fact that Olivia Newton-John was a friend of the Brothers Gibb, a star at the same time and recorded their music.  Also ignored?  Barbra Streisand -- who is spoken about in the film but does not go on camera.  (With Barbara, she knows truth and may not have wanted to lie.)  Diana Ross is shown  but not interviewed.  (We checked, Diana was not asked to go on camera.)  Dionne Warwick is noted but not interviewed.  Barbra, Diana and Dionne all worked with the brothers Gibb -- each for one album.  But they weren't brought on to talk.


A fat and wrinkled Justin Timberlake is brought on to giggle in that girlish and fey manner of his.  Nick Jonas wasn't even born when the Bee Gees were making hits but he's brought on as an expert as well.  What the Bee Gees and Chris Martin (Coldplay) have in common escapes us but there he is in front of the camera.  Male critics are brought on.


Where are the women?


Mr. Nicky Siano babbles on about "the gay and the Black community" in a way that reminds us of all those segments on MSNBC with Keith Olbermann and Michael Mustafo attacking women -- reminded us of how elderly gay White men can be some of the worst sexists.


Sexism.  The backlash against disco was about racism, homophobia and sexism.  It's amazing how so many are eager to drop women out of the storyline.  


Disco queens?  Donna Summer, Gloria Gaynor, Diana Ross, Thelma Houston, Anita Ward, Janice Marie Johnson and Hazel Payne (A Taste of Honey), Cheryl Lynn, Alicia Bridges, Andrea True Connection, . . . 


How do you leave women out of the story of disco?  


Maybe you leave women out of the story by refusing to interview them?  Or acknowledge them even?


Disco was about liberation.  It was about sexual liberation, it was about liberation period.  Diana Ross' "Love Hangover," "Once In The Morning," "Lovin' Livin' and Givin'," "Top of the World," "What You Gave Me," "The Boss," "No One Gets The Prize," "It's My House," "Upside Down," "I'm Coming Out" . . .  These are songs where women are making real statements.  Because they were disco queens, some of these statements were adopted by gay men who loved the music and loved the divas.  Cher became a disco queen with "Take Me Home."  That was a song where she picks up a man and she takes him home.  Women were strong in disco songs.  They had power.


Please note, also, that, as Cher admitted, a lot of people tried to talk her out of doing disco.  No one ever tried to talk Mick Jagger and Keith Richards out of disco ("Miss You"), no one tried to talk Rod Stewart out of it ("Da Ya Think I'm Sexy," "Passion").   But when Cher is going to do disco, a number of people freak out and tell her not to do it.  


The genre produced one true artist.  Donna Summer didn't come from pop or soul or rock.  She was a music star who came up through disco.  More than a star, she was an artist.  At a time when few disco acts were taken seriously, ROLLING STONE was noting that Donna was the Bob Dylan of her genre.  And she was.


"Love To Love You Baby," "I Feel Love," "Last Dance," "MacArthur Park," "Enough Is Enough (No More Tears)" (duet with Barbra Streisand), "Hot Stuff," "Dim All The Lights," "The Wanderer," "Bad Girls," "Try Me, I Know We Can Make It," "Spring Affair," "I Remember Yesterday," "Heaven Knows" . . . 28 number one dance hits -- 19 of those from 1975 to 1979.  


Donna Summer, not the Bee Gees, is the artist of the genre.  The Bee Gees had some hits.  A lot of people did.  But Donna was an artist.  


"The death of disco killed the Bee Gees" narrative doesn't work if you include women.  The Bee Gees career may have ended in October 1981 with LYING EYES but that wasn't the case for others. 1982 to 1989?  Donna Summer racked up five top forty hits.  1982 to 1984, Irene Care had four top forty hits including the number one "Flashdance (What A Feeling)."  Madonna?  Her early work was pure disco -- even before disco morphed into dance.  

 

The 'documentary' blames the 'death of disco' on things like people cashing in with "Disco Duck."  You start to wonder if the idiots behind this 'special' know that Rick Dees' "Disco Duck" appears in the film SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER?  Or that the Bee Gees' label (RSO) released it?  Or that Rick Dees was upset because the song didn't appear on the vinyl soundtrack (he would have made millions, he's often noted).  


Disco didn't die.  It morphed into dance and could be found in the music of artists like Janet Jackson, Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, Irene Cara, Shannon, Donna Summer, Rick Astley, etc.


Before it morphed, many were taken out of the running.  Much is made of the lack of hits for the Bee Gees.  But the same could be said of Barbra Streisand.  From 1970 to 1983, she had 17 top forty hits. The top ten ends for her with the three  hits from 1980 and 1981 produced by the Bee Gees -- "A Woman In Love," "Guilty" and "What Kind Of Fool" all from GUILTY.  She will return in 1996 to the top ten for the last time so far with "I Finally Found Someone" -- a duet with Bryan Adams.


The 'documentary' tells you that a disco backlash set in and that it took down the Bee Gees, that Barry Gibb would plead for airplay and that the now hitless band was lucky that Barbra Streisand would call them up at this time to work on GUILTY.  


There are so many lies in that.  Including -- and especially -- that Barbra would work with a failure.  


First off, the group was walking away from disco well before 1981.  "We're trying to avoid disco," Barry told Greg Mitchell (CRAWDADDY, August, 1978)  And there are a lot of other public remarks that we'll be kind and not repeat but, let's be honest, were homophobic -- statements by the group.  


But the 'documentary' tells you that after their chart hits were over, the band went "on the backburner for a bit."  Barry tells the camera that "everyone began to look for other things to do." Instead, they focused on writing for other artists.  



The band's last album came out in October of 1981.  So it's dishonest when Barry states, "We were scattered all over the place for a little while.  Robin was either in New York or Maurice was in England. I was alone at the time and I got a phone call from Barbra.  She asked me about writing songs and that terrified me."


Lie and liar.


First off, Barry wishes that had happened after 1981.  He drools over that wish.  Why?  Because, as we'll explain in a moment, he would have made more money if Barbra had approached him after 1981.


Let's do a slow walk through down the street of reality.  Barbra (with Jon Peters) attends the July 7, 1979 Bee Gees concert at Dodgers Stadium.  She meets with them.  She asks them to write some songs for her.  They begin writing these songs on their 1979 SPIRITS HAVING FLOWN tour.  While they're writing, she is in negotiations with Robert Stigwood who is their manager, their publisher and the head of the label they are signed to (RSO).  She and Charles Koppelman want part of the publishing.  Stigwood says no.  He also demanded that the Bee Gees get a quarter of the advance for the album and the royalties for the album because there are three Bee Gees and only one Streisand.  These negotiations are why only Barry sings on the album.  Barbra counters that "they all sound alike" and so she will just pay for one (Barry).  


The album was written on the road during the SPIRITS HAVING FLOWN tour (with the exception of "The Love Inside" which was written in 1978 and not written for Barbra)..  That tour -- a massive success -- ended October 6, 1979 in Miami.  That same month, BEE GEES GREATEST would be released.  It would hit number one on the US charts on January 12, 1980.  By February, the instrumental tracks for Barbra's GUILTY album had been recorded. February and March saw Barbra recording her vocals (yes, after the tracks had already been recorded) and the album was released September 23, 1980.


When the album was released, the Bee Gees were still chart hitmakers.  They had completed a successful tour (1979's SPIRITS HAVING FLOWN), had a hit studio album with SPIRITS HAVE FLOWN (over a million copies sold in the US alone -- three number one hits "Tragedy," "Too Much Heaven" and "Love You Inside Out") and a greatest hits collection that topped the charts in January of 1980.  They were at the height of their fame and selling power.  


"That's how the GUILTY album came about," Barry lies.  "We could not get on the radio so the whole idea was to write for other people. Let's be songwriters. Let's try to graduate from being a group that's beginning to fade."


Lies.  It's all lies.  


But we hear "A Woman In Love" play right after and see photos of Barbra with Barry (including one from the 90s though no one seems to notice that it's not from the GUILTY days -- Barbra's hair will always tip you off to the decade).  We see it go to number one on the charts. We watch Barry, Robin and Maurice be interviewed about writing "Woman In Love."


Then we're told that Dionne Warwick's manager called up to ask the Bee Gees to write for her.  Lie.  Clive Davis met with Barry Gibb while both were in Florida.  Clive had a list of ARISTA artists.  Barry was looking for someone to produce.  He saw Dionne's name on the list and that was the one.  Clive was the president of ARISTA, he was not Dionne's manager.  Diana Ross had RTC Management -- she did not have a manager call up the Gibbs, she was managing her own career.  Dolly Parton did not call the Bee Gees to write or produce for her.  Barry was producing Kenny Rogers.  "Islands In The Stream" was not working as a solo song sung by Kenny and Kenny said it needed Dolly -- at which point, Dolly was asked to sing on it.

 

These are truths.


Lies and lies and more lies is what the 'documentary' offers.


The Bee Gees did not go under because of 'the death of disco.'  They destroyed themselves.  They made homophobic comments and did so in interviews -- not a smart way to help your career.  They were a little too proud of themselves which had a lot of people wanting them to fail.  They barely survived the release of the film SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND.  That film killed a lot of careers.  But SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER, the soundtrack, saved them.  They followed that massive success with SPIRITS HAVE FLOWN -- the album, the tour, then BEE GEES GREATEST and then Barbra's GUILTY (which included two hit duets with Barry).  


Their career as a group comes to a close in October 1981 with the release of  their album LIVING EYES.  The album itself was a problem.  They had their biggest success working with their band.  For this album, they fired the band and used session players (Barry was pleased with how session players had worked on GUILTY).  That was one major change.  Another was that Barry was sharing lead vocals -- now Robin and Maurice were singing solo leads -- something that they hadn't done in years.  They'd been walking away from disco in public remarks since 1978.  


There was also the RSO issue.  The label had been falling apart throughout the year and did not have the staff to handle a major release by October.  Worse, Barry had led his brothers in picking a fight with RSO and its head Robert Stigwood.  This led to many legal allegations.  In the end, they all reached a settlement in the summer of 1981.  It was supposed to be private but the brothers felt Stigwood and RSO lied about them in a press release so the brothers took out ads in VARIETY and ROLLING STONE explaining that they now had all their publishing -- and would be creating their own publishing house -- and RSO no longer could determine whether the brothers could (or could not) produce an artist's record and RSO forked over millions in unpaid royalties.


So you had a group that had bashed disco, that had put out a so-so album and that was crowing about the millions they now had from RSO.  It all worked to harm the band and to send them packing.  It was a time when albums weren't selling.  And angry consumers well remembered the cost of SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER -- a double album and of BEE GEES GREATEST -- also a double album.


Disco didn't kill the Bee Gees career, they killed it themselves.  It's a shame that story couldn't be told because it's much more interesting -- and truthful -- than anything HBO offered Saturday night.




Senator Dianne Feinstein should have left long ago

diannesduty

 

Illustration is  Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Dianne Does Her Duty."

 

Dianne.  We told you so.  We told you to stop electing geriatrics to Congress who were too old to serve.  Those of us who can vote in California -- Betty, Kat, Ty, Jim, Dona, Jess, Ava and C.I. -- urged people to support Kevin de Leon (see February 2018's "It's time for Kevin de Leon") for many reasons including that Dianne Feinstein was too old and already showing cognitive decline.  In fact, "Asleep At The Wheel" back in 2013 saying Dianne needed to retire.  If only people had paid attention.


When did they start to pay attention?


Amy Coney Barrett.


That's when you finally woke up to reality, when she was nominated for the highest court in the land.


48.


That's Coney Barrett's age which means she will likely serve on the Supreme Court for forty years.  That would make her 88 -- one year younger than Dianne is right now.

 

 


We don't need "lifetime" senators -- or judges.  We've never taken a hard line on members of the House of Representatives.  Our reasoning has been that they serve two year terms and we hope that their constituents will hold them accountable -- We hope.  Looking at Nancy Pelosi, we do wonder.  80-years-old, inept and she's accomplished nothing.


Now the argument made for Nancy staying in office is she's in leadership.  Okay . . . When we were supporting Kevin de Leon, what was the argument made for Dianne?  Oh, yeah!  That she was in leadership, that she was in charge of the Senate Judiciary Committee.


That was a good thing, we were told.  Two years later, are we still pretending it's a good thing?


Do we need term limits?  We would prefer not to have them.  We would prefer that the elected exercise good judgment.


But even we have to laugh at that last sentence.  Politicians exercising good judgement?  Have we really ever seen that in our lifetime?


Mailbag

 

mailcall





Again into the mailbag.  Our e-mail address is thethirdestatesundayreview@yahoo.com and common_ills@yahoo.com.

 

Lisa Spencer e-mails about the "Music roundtable" to ask what specifically gets pulled when the transcript was typed up?

 

In that roundtable, specifically, Cedric's remarks were removed from one part.

 

Cedric: I brought up "Benny and the Jets" and how the chorus had always been too sugary candy to me but I heard the song on Spotify recently and fell in love with it.  I'm not an Elton John fan.  I probably had eight or nine sentences where I was praising him and saying I had missed how great his performance was and blah.  Ava and C.I. take notes during the roundtable.  That's how we get the transcript.  So C.I. calls me when they're typing it up.  She sks if that can be pulled?  Sure.  But why?  Turns out, I was raving about Steve Grand's version.  I hadn't realized that and I had to stop a second and think and then I started laughing because I realized that's what I liked about it.  So that time, something was pulled because it was wrong.  

 

Darius Hatchett e-mails, "You think you're funny but you're not.  You are coemedians and that's not a typo.  Coemedians because your jokes belong in the toilet."

 

Dona: But will be able to fit them in there with you?  

 

Billy78 wants "more TV coverage."  He states, "Ava and C.I. are the weekly drawing card but I'm honestly depressed as hell these days with all this Covid and so much more.  I have several of Ava and C.I.'s bookmarked like the 7th HEAVEN one that I read over and over.  But I would love an edition with six pieces written by just them."

 

We would too.  But we doubt Ava and C.I. would agree.  We will point out that we have all taken weekends off.  The only ones who have never had a week off since this site started in January 2005?  Ava and C.I.

 

Prounce Sherman is thrilled with "Music roundtable" but wants more of them.  We are trying to beef up the music coverage here.  Ava and C.I. are planning a music piece of the edition that goes up after Christmas.  

 

Fred Cardosa wonders if we will ever go back to covering comics?  Maybe but we don't see anything in the near future.

 

Tweet of the week

From John Stauber:

The Dems would never pass #MedicareForAll even if they had majorities in both houses. They owe their souls to the Insurance Hospital Pharmacy conglomerates.





Christmas?

cc9



"It's coming on Christmas," as Joni Mitchell once observed.  "They're cutting down trees."


Does it feel like Christmas?


Not really to us.  Not during the pandemic.  Most of us won't see our family -- parents and sibling -- because travel isn't possible.


What is possible during the pandemic?  Masks and more masks.  It's Halloween forever but with no treats, just tricks.


And fibers.


Lots and lots of fibers.


You breathe in and the fibers from the mask go in your mouth.


Joe Biden, incoming president, is asking for 100 days of masking starting with his swearing in on January 20th.  100 more days.  100.


Is it keeping us safe?  Probably.  And that's a good thing.


That doesn't make it fun.  And we've got a right to complain with the inept response from our government -- that's Donald Trump, that's the Congress.


We wish Joe had shown leadership on this issue when it arose during the primaries.  But that time's passed.  As president, he will get no excuse or pass so better be prepared.


The American people have more than done their part during this pandemic.  The US government can't say the same.


If Joe delivers, we'll praise him for that.  


Otherwise . . . 



They're singing songs of joy and peace.

I wish I had a river

I could skate away on . . .

Democrats Deploy “Diversity” to Mask Renewed War and Austerity

 

 

 

Take a moment to stream the above.  We wish it were on YOUTUBE too.  Sometimes it is via THE PROGRESSIVE RADIO NETWORK.  But it's a strong segment so make a point to listen.




This edition's playlist

 fiona

 

 


 
 
 
 
 
 3)  The Mamas and the Papas' THE PAPAS & THE MAMAS.


4) Dionne Warwick's SHE'S BACK.



5) Cat PowersWANDERER.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

#TheJimmyDoreShow Jimmy Trending Because AOC Against Fighting for Medicare For All.

 

 

Become a Premium Member: https://jimmydorecomedy.com/join Go to a Live Show: https://jimmydorecomedy.com/tour Subscribe to Our Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/jimmydorecomedy/yt... The Jimmy Dore Show Website: https://jimmydorecomedy.com/ LIVESTREAM & LIVE SHOW ANNOUNCEMENTS: Join the Email list: https://mailchi.mp/jimmydorecomedy/yt... Twitter: https://twitter.com/jimmy_dore Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JimmyDoreShow Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thejimmydor... WATCH / LISTEN FREE: Videos: https://jimmydorecomedy.com/watch Podcasts: https://jimmydorecomedy.com/podcasts (Also available on iTunes, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or your favorite podcast player.) ACCESS TO FULL REPLAYABLE LIVESTREAMS: Become a Premium Member: https://jimmydorecomedy.com/join SUPPORT THE JIMMY DORE SHOW: Make a Donation: https://jimmydorecomedy.com/donate Buy Official Merch (Tees, Sweatshirts, Hats, Bags): https://jimmydorecomedy.com/store DOWNLOAD OUR MOBILE APP: App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/jimmy-d... Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/de... Jimmy Dore on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Jimmy_Dore Stef Zamorano on Twitter: https://twitter.com/miserablelib Edited by Koki Miyazaki About The Jimmy Dore Show: #TheJimmyDoreShow is a hilarious and irreverent take on news, politics and culture featuring Jimmy Dore, a professional stand up comedian, author and podcaster. The show is also broadcast on Pacifica Radio Network stations throughout the country.

 

 

 

 

"Changing of the Imperialist Guard" feat. Margaret Kimberley

 

 

 

The 2020 presidential election and what must happen next Margaret Kimberley is an Editor and Senior Columnist at the Black Agenda Report, which publishes news, commentary and analysis from the black left. She is author of the book, “Prejudential: Black America and the Presidents,” which is an eye-opening and very well researched volume published by Steerforth Press in February 2020. (Read my review.) She contributed to the anthology, “In Defense of Julian Assange,” which includes essays by over three dozen other well-known figures including Noam Chomsky, Daniel Ellsberg and Matt Taibbi. Margaret is also on the coordinating committee of the Black Alliance for Peace, which seeks to recapture and redevelop the historic anti-war, anti-imperialist, and pro-peace positions of the radical black movement. Margaret & I spoke on Nov. 6th, the Friday after the presidential election. At the time, no winner had been called yet. We talked about the myth of US democracy, how the Republicans and Democrats are far more alike than different, the global scourge of US militarism, the persistence of white supremacy and the need for localized grassroots political action. We enjoyed a few laughs, too. Margaret's book: "Prejudential: Black America & the Presidents" http://steerforth.com/titles/prejuden... Margaret's weekly column at the Black Agenda Report: https://blackagendareport.com/author/... * * * RADIO FREE SUNROOT: Podcasting by Kollibri terre Sonnenblume https://radiofreesunroot.com KOLLIBRI'S BLOG & BOOKSHOP: https://macskamoksha.com/ * KOLLIBRI'S PATREON: Get exclusive access to members-only content and early access to podcast episodes https://www.patreon.com/kollibri

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Biden's Leaked Audio: Reactions from Briahna Joy Gray & Katie

 

 

*UPDATE: Briahna and Katie will be doing an update on this Sunday evening, NOT Saturday. Link Coming Soon. Subscribe so you're notified* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QN70O... Briahna Joy Gray (https://twitter.com/briebriejoy) & Katie do an impromptu stream to talk about the leaked video of Biden talking to Civil Rights leaders in the condescending, entitled, indignant, offensive, self-righteous, self-aggrandizing and incoherent way, we've all seen from him before. Please support The Katie Halper Show on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/thekatiehalpe... Follow Katie on Twitter: https://twitter.com/kthalps

 

 

 

 

 

Highlights

 a park painting 11

This piece is written by Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude, Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix, Kat of Kat's Korner, Betty of Thomas Friedman is a Great Man, Mike of Mikey Likes It!, Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz, Ruth of Ruth's Report, Marcia of SICKOFITRADLZ, Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends, Ann of Ann's Mega Dub, Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts and Wally of The Daily Jot. Unless otherwise noted, we picked all highlights.

 

 

"NEWSWEEK and the CIA -- they never cared too much ..." -- most requested highlight by readers of this site.

 

"Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Dianne Does He..." and "Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Hunter Biden F..." -- Isaiah serves up two new comics.


"Pot Roast in the Kitchen" -- Trina serves up a recipe.

 

 

"Iraq snapshot," "Protests continue in Iraq," "Iraq snapshot," "Iraq snapshot," "Iraq snapshot," "Iraq snapshot," "Iraq snapshot," ""Don't you wish we had a functioning Congress?," "Good for her," "Howie and Angela," "Bill Clinton, criminal just like his buddy Jeffrey...," "Liar and whore John Nichols," "John Barbour on the JFK assassination," "JFK assassination,"  "Closet cases," "What gets covered," "Waking up?," "Isaiah and Turley," "The garbage also stinks," "The bad apple falls off the bad tree (Hunter is his father's son)," "Hunter Biden target of a criminal investigation," "A second shooter?," "JFK," "Sean Penn?," "No, we aren't in this together," "Police raid on Rebekah Jones," "The joke that is Biden," "Renters," "Idiot of the week," "We need JFK truth," "All alone in the midst of a global emergency," "We are being screwed," "Isaiah and Jimmy Dore," "To the moon," "Good question," "Artemis," "Lazy Louisa Loveluck," "Crooked Debbie Wasserman Schultz," "what's possible," "To the Supreme Court!," "Another voting sham cries Sidney Powell!," "The electoral college conspiracy!" and "THIS JUST IN! IT'S OVER (TELL SIDNEY POWELL)!" -- news coverage in the community.


 

"some 'undoing' talk," "More words from DISNEY+," "You take the good, you take the bad," "MA RAINEY'S BLACK (and old) BOTTOM," "What's in your queue?," "HBO MAX will provide the new films, you'll need to provide the popcorn,"  "worst musical of all time: hello dolly," and  "It's coming . . . January 17th" -- TV and movie coverage,

 

 

 "5 great Christine McVie ballads,"  "Charley Pride""5 tracks the prove SIGN O' THE TIMES is one of the great albums of all time," "Joni Mitchell," "Favorite Prince song that was never a single?," "Cher should record this song," "Stevie and Bob's big payouts," "barbra's 'niagara'" and "look for a roundtable" -- music coverage in the community.

 

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