But a visit to the Sunni settlement this week laid bare the huge cost
of that victory. The town is now emptied of its 80,000 residents, and
building after building has been destroyed – by air strikes, bombings
and artillery fire.
After four months of battles between the Isis
and the Iraqi army, about 10,000 pro-government Shia militiamen were
poured into this area in Babil province for a final push, according to
Hadi al-Amiri, who leads the Iranian-backed Badr Brigade and
co-ordinated the operation.
Defeating the militants involved
clearing out all the residents and leaving the town nearly flattened,
underscoring the challenge the Shia-led government faces in areas where
demographics do not work in its favour.
-- Loveday Morris, "Iraq’s victory over militants in Sunni town underlines challenges government faces" (Washington Post).
Monday, November 03, 2014
A note to our readers
Hey --
And so it's a Monday.
First, we 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.
And so it's a Monday.
First, we 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?
We'd agreed to just go with Loveday Morris. Outside of The Common Ills, we haven't seen anyone note this very important report on Iraq.
Ban Ki-moon is a joke. He's had years to show independence, years to show strength. He's only gotten weaker each year.
Ava and C.I. examine the new channels and how they replicate the best and worst of TV's past.
Stevie Nicks. This was suggested by reader Mia. She wanted us to note 10. We couldn't agree on ten so we went with 20.
Since we weren't able to finish on time, I figured the least I could do was offer a Jim's World.
Remembering Linda's best.
Short feature.
What we listened to.
Socialist Worker repost.
Workers World repost.
Mike and the gang wrote this.
Peace.
-- Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, Ava and C.I.
Editorial: The United Nation's touching concern
Last week, the United Nations landed plenty of ink as a result of their declaration opposing foreign fighters in Iraq.
Time wrote it up, Deutsche Welle did as well, PRI and so many more.
We're also opposed to foreign fighters in Iraq.
But when we say that, we mean the US, Australia, Canada, et al.
Last week, the United Nations yet again demonstrated how useless they are and how empty Ban Ki-moon's reign as Secretary-General has been.
Unlike Kofi Annan, to cite only one example, Ban Ki-moon has been more than happy to be seen as a powerless pawn to US' interests.
Much is being made (rightly) of the White House doing little for months and months to address the violence in Iraq but what of the United Nations?
What of Ban Ki-moon's failures.
The European Union has shown greater interest in and leadership on Iraq than any other body including the United Nations.
Ban Ki-moon's tenure has been marked by Nouri al-Maliki mocking him at a press conference (with Ban standing right beside Nouri when it happened) and rumors of corruption on the part of his former envoy Martin Kobler.
What it has not been marked by is any progress in Iraq.
Time wrote it up, Deutsche Welle did as well, PRI and so many more.
We're also opposed to foreign fighters in Iraq.
But when we say that, we mean the US, Australia, Canada, et al.
Last week, the United Nations yet again demonstrated how useless they are and how empty Ban Ki-moon's reign as Secretary-General has been.
Unlike Kofi Annan, to cite only one example, Ban Ki-moon has been more than happy to be seen as a powerless pawn to US' interests.
Much is being made (rightly) of the White House doing little for months and months to address the violence in Iraq but what of the United Nations?
What of Ban Ki-moon's failures.
The European Union has shown greater interest in and leadership on Iraq than any other body including the United Nations.
Ban Ki-moon's tenure has been marked by Nouri al-Maliki mocking him at a press conference (with Ban standing right beside Nouri when it happened) and rumors of corruption on the part of his former envoy Martin Kobler.
What it has not been marked by is any progress in Iraq.
TV: The Clone Wars
TV our way! The easiest decision you'll make all day! It doesn't get any better than This! Memorable Entertainment Television! TV how it was meant to be!
So many promises made, so few kept.
If you're a struggling college student or someone else struggling financially, you've probably noted the influx in new TV channels broadcast over the airwaves.
And new channels, free of charge, should be something to rejoice over.
Should be.
Instead, it's largely one disappointment after another.
Take This TV which promises films but works in a lot of episodes of the TV show The Outer Limits for a supposed film channel. When not airing that, it offers a lot of films that most people passed on long ago. Take this coming Saturday where, eight hours will be taken up with The Kickboxer franchise.
Being This TV, they do things their own way, which is to say: half-assed.
So Kickboxer II: The Road Back kicks things off and Kickboxer IV: Redemption winds things down.
Yes, they're showing four installments of the film series including the last two -- films so bad they never made it to a theater but were "direct to video" flicks.
Some will say, "Sasha Mitchell is eye candy." Possibly, if you like your eye candy to leave you with two black eyes. Whatever did or did not happen between Mitchell and his first wife, we're not the police, it ended his career as well as his following.
Sometimes This TV will decide to focus on women -- or pretend to -- and do a block of bad films based on fairy tales. Films so bad, you'd find them for $1.99 in a bin at a gas station. The production values may be the only thing worse than the acting. But for some reason, This TV is convinced that grown women want to watch badly acted fairy tales.
At least This TV makes an effort -- a bad effort.
That's more than can be said for ME TV which is easily the worst new channel to emerge in decades.
It wasn't always so bad.
A year ago this time, the network offered an hour of prime time of The Bob Newhart Show, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Rhoda and more.
Today, it's just The Bob Newhart Show.
That show was never that interesting and many episodes are downright offensive today.
For example, while you can watch the episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show where Phyllis learns her brother Ben is not gay without cringing. The same cannot be said when Howard Hessman's character comes out as gay on The Bob Newhart Show. And it's true that Marcia Wallace does heroic comedy as Carol but that doesn't change that the character is a rip off of Sally Rogers (The Dick Van Dyke Show) or that Sally was out of date when Rose Marie played her.
The Bob Newhart Show was never that funny.
(Newhart, by contrast, was hilarious from the second season on.)
The Bob Newhart Show struggled in the ratings from the start (back when there were just three networks, coming in 53rd for the year was bombing) and the industry wasn't impressed which is why the series never won an Emmy and, in fact, only received two nominations its entire six year run.
But from one night a week, MyTV has now spread the lackluster show across five nights of prime time and, teams it with such other trash as M*A*S*H.
M*A*S*H was a film classic.
Like the late Robert Altman, we don't know what the hell that crap airing on TV was but it wasn't M*A*S*H.
The so-so comedy stands as a testament to the whorish nature of TV critics.
Homeland is little more than Mosad propaganda that exists to sell torture. We know that. So does a prominent Water Cooler Set TV critic. But he will offer to us all these excuses about Homeland is doing this and doing that.
And when we point out that this 'miracle' show is produced by one of Rush Limbaugh's best friends, he'll struggle to find new excuses to justify his fascination with (and addiction to) torture porn.
Something similar happened with M*A*S*H.
Alan Alda said all the right things for us liberals -- said them off screen.
So we looked the other way on M*A*S*H.
It is not a funny show.
And his Hawkeye is prissy and irritating and the sexism on the show never fails to offend.
Along with those two crap-fests, MeTV thinks they can grab viewers by airing, in prime time, The Andy Griffith Show. The only thing that would ever make that show interesting would be Aunt Bee warbling "Andy!" as she walked in on Barney plowing the sheriff doggy-style while an excited Gomer exclaimed "Golly!" and unzipped his own pants.
Then it's Hogan's Heroes and Gilligan's Island and do women exist on MeTV as anything but props -- largely props so that closeted actors could portray straight men?
MeTV is the worst of the lot, offensive and dull, what's the best?
Two that actually offer promise are Bounce TV and Cozi TV.
They're the only ones doing original programming.
Bounce, which is geared towards African-American viewers, offers the original sitcom Family Time starring Angell Conwell and Omar Gooding. They also offer Sheri Shepherd hosting The Dating Game. Plus there are specials and documentaries (The Jackie Robinson Story, for example), sports and even theater productions.
Theater productions? NBC was bottom of the barrel in the ratings a few decades back and vehicles like SuperTrain and Pink Lady and Jeff hadn't helped any with the ratings.
So NBC moved towards a return to live theater. Academy Award winner Sally Field scored with All The Way Home (directed by Delbert Mann) and Pearl Bailey, Dana Hill and Howard E. Rollins Jr. scored with The Member of the Wedding (also directed by Mann).
NBC still does the occassional live production -- last year's successful Sound of Music performance, for example -- but it's not a staple of their programming.
But Bounce does regularly air (recorded) theater productions.
Cozi doesn't.
They don't really do much in terms of original programming that's scripted.
They do offer the Emmy award winning Talk Stoop, a talk show hosted by Cat Greenleaf on the stoop outside her Brooklyn home. Cat's a laidback talker with a knack for memorable interviews -- she gives the guest enough rope to swing to new heights (Cyndi Lauper) or to hang themselves (Oliver Stone).
Cozi also offers original comedy specials where comedians riff on their programming -- for example, examing the fashions of Magnum P.I. and Charlie's Angels. Though not earth shattering, the blend of clips and zingers makes for entertaining TV.
In terms of reairings, they offer such shows as The Avengers, Here's Lucy, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman, Charlie's Angels, Hart to Hart, McMillan & Wife and The Dick Van Dyke Show. They also offer late night movies, as Ruth frequently noted at her site.
If there is one thing holding back Cozi right now, it's the reliance on Westerns. MeTV's already doing that and then some. Cozi could stand out if it would, for example, stop broadcasting the TV show Maverick during Saturday prime time or lose the horse operas during the week.
But Cozi and Bounce are strong channels.
The question is, why aren't others?
MeTV is filth.
We're not saying it's "indecent." Decency doesn't concern us.
We're saying it's pure garbage that would bore even the Reader's Digest set.
It started out with a tiny edge but now that's been sanded off and it is that TV is at its worst.
The garbage most never want to see again collects at the bottom of the drain and airs on MeTV.
It exists as a tired kinetoscope of the past.
A world where all the players are White and, if they do anything, they're men.
A world that never reflected reality but MeTV is all about sexism and racism and being the worst network on TV.
It didn't have to be that way.
As these new channels emerged in the 21st century, they could have been ironic (Cozi), maverick (Bounce) or just utilized some of the best programming of the past to build a bridge to this century.
The latter is what Antenna TV has done.
Bewitched, All in the Family, Good Times, Maude, Sanford & Son, Three's Company, The Nanny, Gidget, The Flying Nun, I Dream of Jeannie, Diff'rent Strokes, WKRP in Cincinnati, It Takes A Thief, The Patty Duke Show, The Burns and Allen Show, etc.
Antenna TV is not creating any new content. But it is digging through some of TV's better offerings that amused in the past and can still do so today. To spend time with Antenna TV is to realize why TV ever caught Americans attention in the first place.
So many promises made, so few kept.
If you're a struggling college student or someone else struggling financially, you've probably noted the influx in new TV channels broadcast over the airwaves.
And new channels, free of charge, should be something to rejoice over.
Should be.
Instead, it's largely one disappointment after another.
Take This TV which promises films but works in a lot of episodes of the TV show The Outer Limits for a supposed film channel. When not airing that, it offers a lot of films that most people passed on long ago. Take this coming Saturday where, eight hours will be taken up with The Kickboxer franchise.
Being This TV, they do things their own way, which is to say: half-assed.
So Kickboxer II: The Road Back kicks things off and Kickboxer IV: Redemption winds things down.
Yes, they're showing four installments of the film series including the last two -- films so bad they never made it to a theater but were "direct to video" flicks.
Some will say, "Sasha Mitchell is eye candy." Possibly, if you like your eye candy to leave you with two black eyes. Whatever did or did not happen between Mitchell and his first wife, we're not the police, it ended his career as well as his following.
Sometimes This TV will decide to focus on women -- or pretend to -- and do a block of bad films based on fairy tales. Films so bad, you'd find them for $1.99 in a bin at a gas station. The production values may be the only thing worse than the acting. But for some reason, This TV is convinced that grown women want to watch badly acted fairy tales.
At least This TV makes an effort -- a bad effort.
That's more than can be said for ME TV which is easily the worst new channel to emerge in decades.
It wasn't always so bad.
A year ago this time, the network offered an hour of prime time of The Bob Newhart Show, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Rhoda and more.
Today, it's just The Bob Newhart Show.
That show was never that interesting and many episodes are downright offensive today.
For example, while you can watch the episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show where Phyllis learns her brother Ben is not gay without cringing. The same cannot be said when Howard Hessman's character comes out as gay on The Bob Newhart Show. And it's true that Marcia Wallace does heroic comedy as Carol but that doesn't change that the character is a rip off of Sally Rogers (The Dick Van Dyke Show) or that Sally was out of date when Rose Marie played her.
The Bob Newhart Show was never that funny.
(Newhart, by contrast, was hilarious from the second season on.)
The Bob Newhart Show struggled in the ratings from the start (back when there were just three networks, coming in 53rd for the year was bombing) and the industry wasn't impressed which is why the series never won an Emmy and, in fact, only received two nominations its entire six year run.
But from one night a week, MyTV has now spread the lackluster show across five nights of prime time and, teams it with such other trash as M*A*S*H.
M*A*S*H was a film classic.
Like the late Robert Altman, we don't know what the hell that crap airing on TV was but it wasn't M*A*S*H.
The so-so comedy stands as a testament to the whorish nature of TV critics.
Homeland is little more than Mosad propaganda that exists to sell torture. We know that. So does a prominent Water Cooler Set TV critic. But he will offer to us all these excuses about Homeland is doing this and doing that.
And when we point out that this 'miracle' show is produced by one of Rush Limbaugh's best friends, he'll struggle to find new excuses to justify his fascination with (and addiction to) torture porn.
Something similar happened with M*A*S*H.
Alan Alda said all the right things for us liberals -- said them off screen.
So we looked the other way on M*A*S*H.
It is not a funny show.
And his Hawkeye is prissy and irritating and the sexism on the show never fails to offend.
Along with those two crap-fests, MeTV thinks they can grab viewers by airing, in prime time, The Andy Griffith Show. The only thing that would ever make that show interesting would be Aunt Bee warbling "Andy!" as she walked in on Barney plowing the sheriff doggy-style while an excited Gomer exclaimed "Golly!" and unzipped his own pants.
Then it's Hogan's Heroes and Gilligan's Island and do women exist on MeTV as anything but props -- largely props so that closeted actors could portray straight men?
MeTV is the worst of the lot, offensive and dull, what's the best?
Two that actually offer promise are Bounce TV and Cozi TV.
They're the only ones doing original programming.
Bounce, which is geared towards African-American viewers, offers the original sitcom Family Time starring Angell Conwell and Omar Gooding. They also offer Sheri Shepherd hosting The Dating Game. Plus there are specials and documentaries (The Jackie Robinson Story, for example), sports and even theater productions.
Theater productions? NBC was bottom of the barrel in the ratings a few decades back and vehicles like SuperTrain and Pink Lady and Jeff hadn't helped any with the ratings.
So NBC moved towards a return to live theater. Academy Award winner Sally Field scored with All The Way Home (directed by Delbert Mann) and Pearl Bailey, Dana Hill and Howard E. Rollins Jr. scored with The Member of the Wedding (also directed by Mann).
NBC still does the occassional live production -- last year's successful Sound of Music performance, for example -- but it's not a staple of their programming.
But Bounce does regularly air (recorded) theater productions.
Cozi doesn't.
They don't really do much in terms of original programming that's scripted.
They do offer the Emmy award winning Talk Stoop, a talk show hosted by Cat Greenleaf on the stoop outside her Brooklyn home. Cat's a laidback talker with a knack for memorable interviews -- she gives the guest enough rope to swing to new heights (Cyndi Lauper) or to hang themselves (Oliver Stone).
Cozi also offers original comedy specials where comedians riff on their programming -- for example, examing the fashions of Magnum P.I. and Charlie's Angels. Though not earth shattering, the blend of clips and zingers makes for entertaining TV.
In terms of reairings, they offer such shows as The Avengers, Here's Lucy, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman, Charlie's Angels, Hart to Hart, McMillan & Wife and The Dick Van Dyke Show. They also offer late night movies, as Ruth frequently noted at her site.
If there is one thing holding back Cozi right now, it's the reliance on Westerns. MeTV's already doing that and then some. Cozi could stand out if it would, for example, stop broadcasting the TV show Maverick during Saturday prime time or lose the horse operas during the week.
But Cozi and Bounce are strong channels.
The question is, why aren't others?
MeTV is filth.
We're not saying it's "indecent." Decency doesn't concern us.
We're saying it's pure garbage that would bore even the Reader's Digest set.
It started out with a tiny edge but now that's been sanded off and it is that TV is at its worst.
The garbage most never want to see again collects at the bottom of the drain and airs on MeTV.
It exists as a tired kinetoscope of the past.
A world where all the players are White and, if they do anything, they're men.
A world that never reflected reality but MeTV is all about sexism and racism and being the worst network on TV.
It didn't have to be that way.
As these new channels emerged in the 21st century, they could have been ironic (Cozi), maverick (Bounce) or just utilized some of the best programming of the past to build a bridge to this century.
The latter is what Antenna TV has done.
Bewitched, All in the Family, Good Times, Maude, Sanford & Son, Three's Company, The Nanny, Gidget, The Flying Nun, I Dream of Jeannie, Diff'rent Strokes, WKRP in Cincinnati, It Takes A Thief, The Patty Duke Show, The Burns and Allen Show, etc.
Antenna TV is not creating any new content. But it is digging through some of TV's better offerings that amused in the past and can still do so today. To spend time with Antenna TV is to realize why TV ever caught Americans attention in the first place.
Top 20 Stevie Nicks' epics
Whether recording with Fleetwood Mac or solo, Stevie Nicks has written one classic after another.
More than classics, they are often epics.
As Kat noted in her review of Stevie's new album 24 Karat Gold: Songs From The Vault, "Few song writers produce epics the way Stevie does. She's not writing story songs, she's writing films."
With that in mind, here are our picks for Stevie's twenty greatest epics.
1) "Sara"
2) "Beauty & The Beast"
3) "Edge of 17"
4) "Belladonna"
5) "The Dealer"
6) "Wild Heart"
7) "Juliet"
8) "Rhiannon"
9) "Wide Sargasso Sea"
10) "Lady"
11) "Landslide"
12) "One More Big Time Rock and Roll Star"
13) "Sisters of the Moon"
14) "Violet and Blue"
15) "Gypsy"
16) "Welcome to the Room . . . Sara"
17) "Mabel Normand"
18) "Hard Advice"
19) "Thrown Down"
20) "Moonlight (A Vampire's Dream)"
As Kat noted in her review of Stevie's new album 24 Karat Gold: Songs From The Vault, "Few song writers produce epics the way Stevie does. She's not writing story songs, she's writing films."
With that in mind, here are our picks for Stevie's twenty greatest epics.
1) "Sara"
2) "Beauty & The Beast"
3) "Edge of 17"
4) "Belladonna"
5) "The Dealer"
6) "Wild Heart"
7) "Juliet"
8) "Rhiannon"
9) "Wide Sargasso Sea"
10) "Lady"
11) "Landslide"
12) "One More Big Time Rock and Roll Star"
13) "Sisters of the Moon"
14) "Violet and Blue"
15) "Gypsy"
16) "Welcome to the Room . . . Sara"
17) "Mabel Normand"
18) "Hard Advice"
19) "Thrown Down"
20) "Moonlight (A Vampire's Dream)"
Jim's World
Roundtables.
A few of you e-mail asking where are the roundtables.
A few weeks ago, we did one.
And as I noted in my "A note to the readers," we ended up pulling it at the last minut.
We'd probably spent three hours on it -- including typing it up -- and now it was trashed.
Why?
We were talking about the useless whores who can't call out Barack.
One person offered, for example, that 'radical' Michael Ratner talks about Barack sending US troops back into Iraq on Law & Disorder Radio and keeps his voice even and smooth until he gets to Hillary Clinton who, for the record, is not President of the United States or even in the administration today.
We called out silly whores like Michael Ratner.
Silly 'radicals' too afraid to call out the 'Black' man but more than fine with attacking Hillary Clinton for Barack's decision to send troops back into Iraq.
It was a lively roundtable.
But then some started having reservations.
Since Michael was (at last) speaking out and (finally) remembering Iraq maybe we shouldn't call him out?
I thought that was a load of s**t.
Since, in my note, I put in that Ava and C.I. walked out on that discussion, let me now make clear they weren't asking for any edits or changes.
Their opinions were, we said it, it's our opinion, let's print it and move on.
But not everyone felt that way.
And after that, and after it not being published, I just haven't been in the mood for a roundtable.
Maybe writing about it will change that?
Maybe not.
I don't dislike Michael Ratner.
But I'm not doing The Third Estate Sunday Review to produce content that will never, ever hurt his feelings.
Last week, Chris Floyd called out Digby.
Long time coming.
I think if, on the left, we were holding the various Barack whores accountable, we'd have a lot less silence on the left and a lot more get-in-the-street action.
Top Ten Linda Ronstadt recordings
This year, Rhino released a collection of duets Linda Ronstadt had previously recorded (she retired in 2011).
Kat reviewed it here. And we thought we'd use the opportunity to offer and rank our top ten favorite Linda Ronstadt recordings.
1) "Tracks Of My Tears"
2) "Ooh Baby Baby"
3) "Don't Know Much" (duet with Aaron Neville)
4) "Walk Away Renee" (duet with Ann Savoy)
5) "After The Gold Rush" (with Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris)
6) "Love Has No Pride"
7) "Poor Poor Pitiful Me"
8) "The Waiting"
9) "To Know Him Is To Love Him" (with Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris)
10) "Different Drum" (with the Stone Poneys)
Kat reviewed it here. And we thought we'd use the opportunity to offer and rank our top ten favorite Linda Ronstadt recordings.
1) "Tracks Of My Tears"
2) "Ooh Baby Baby"
3) "Don't Know Much" (duet with Aaron Neville)
4) "Walk Away Renee" (duet with Ann Savoy)
5) "After The Gold Rush" (with Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris)
6) "Love Has No Pride"
7) "Poor Poor Pitiful Me"
8) "The Waiting"
9) "To Know Him Is To Love Him" (with Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris)
10) "Different Drum" (with the Stone Poneys)
Johnny Loves Benjamin
Well how cute. John Kerry got himself a boyfriend.
My baby whispers in my ear
Mmm, sweet nothings
He knows the things I like to hear
Mmm, sweet nothings
Things he wouldn't tell nobody else
Secret, baby
I keep it to myself
Sweet nothings
We walk along hand in hand
Mmm, sweet nothings
Yeah, we both understand
Mmm, sweet nothings
-- "Sweet Nothings," written by Ronnie Self and Dub Albritton and performed by Diana Ross on her Why Do Fools Fall In Love album.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
