Third Estate Sunday Review

The Third Estate Sunday Review focuses on politics and culture. We're an online magazine. We don't play nice and we don't kiss butt. In the words of Tuesday Weld: "I do not ever want to be a huge star. Do you think I want a success? I refused "Bonnie and Clyde" because I was nursing at the time but also because deep down I knew that it was going to be a huge success. The same was true of "Bob and Carol and Fred and Sue" or whatever it was called. It reeked of success."

Tuesday, May 31, 2022

Iraq coverage 2

From THE COMMON ILLS:

Iraq: Congo Fever and desertificaation

The Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) has been showing up in Iraq for weeks now -- in southern Iraq and the Kurdistan. NDTV notes:

This year Iraq has recorded 19 deaths among 111 CCHF cases in humans, according to the Word Health Organization.

The virus has no vaccine and onset can be swift, causing severe bleeding both internally and externally and especially from the nose. It causes death in as many as two-fifths of cases, according to medics.

"The number of cases recorded is unprecedented," said Haidar Hantouche, a health official in Dhi Qar province.

A poor farming region in southern Iraq, the province accounts for nearly half of Iraq's cases.

In previous years, cases could be counted "on the fingers of one hand", he added.

Transmitted by ticks, hosts of the virus include both wild and farmed animals such as buffalo, cattle, goats and sheep, all of which are common in Dhi Qar.

WION adds, "According to medics, the virus causes severe bleeding both internally and externally and especially from the nose. As many as two-fifths of the cases die." Gillian Duncan (THE NATIONAL) notes the virus first spread to Iraq in 1979 and "There is currently no approved vaccine for this disease." Jay Hilotin (GULF NEWS) notes that the World Health Organizations has identified the most likely people to get infected as "farmers, slaughterhouse workers and veterinarians — people mainly get infected via ticks on livestock" and quotes WHO stating, "Human-to-human transmission can occur resulting from close contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected persons." AFP states that death will be the outcome in two-fifth of all cases. RUDAW notes that the Iraqi government allocated 1 billion Iraqi dinars on Saturday to address the virus -- that's approximately $683,000 in US dollars. No, that's not a lot of money. Regarding northern Iraq, RUDAW reports, "Health committees were formed in three Kurdish cities to combat the Congo fever, officials from the areas told Rudaw on Sunday amid an outbreak of the virus in Iraq’s southern provinces. Formed in Sulaimani, Duhok, and Halabja, the committees are advised to quarantine suspects of the virus and to send their blood samples to Baghdad to confirm their infection."

Congo Fever is not the only problem facing Iraq. NEWS.AM reports:

At a time when global wheat prices have risen sharply because of the conflict in Ukraine, Iraqi farmers say they are paying the price for the government's decision to cut irrigation of farmland by 50 percent, AP reported.

The government took this step amid severe water shortages caused by high temperatures and drought, as well as continued water withdrawals by neighboring countries from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. All of these factors have resulted in severe water shortages for wheat production.

The roblems come as desertification is a major problem in Iraq. Dler S. Mohammed (KURDISTAN 24) reports:

Iraq is losing a staggering 100,000 donums (about 10,000 hectares) of agricultural land per year, the Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture announced on Saturday.

The Director-General of Forests and Desertification Directorate of the Iraqi Ministry of Agriculture Rawiya Al-Azawi announced on Saturday that Iraq has been losing approximately 100,000 donums of agricultural lands per year to desertification for the past decade.

She warned that this phenomenon would hugely impact the ministry's agricultural plan and revealed that the ministry has proposed establishing a special fund for combating desertification.

Al-Azawi pointed out that increased desertification is due to global warming and climate change, which has reduced rainfall. She added that Iraq's geography makes it more vulnerable to global warming.

The following sites updated:

From The TESR Test Kitchen

"Scorchin'" is the new term Pringles is attaching to their chips. "Scorchin'."

We tried the "Scorchin'" wavy chips in the nacho flavor.

Pringles® Scorchin' Wavy Loaded Nachos Crisps

The cute little illustration promises all sorts of flavors on the wavy chips -- cheese, jalapeno, tomato, cheese, sour cream . . .

Not only are those flavors really not evident, the chip itself isn't even "scorchin'." It's a bland chip that appears to want to be something more but fails.

We grade it a flat out F.

Tweet of the week

Ajamu Baraka:

CNN since you are investigating war crimes in Ukraine for some reason we don't see any investigation into the dozen of allegations of war crimes - with videos - circulating in non-Western press & social media. So, I guess we can conclude those allegations are Kremlin propaganda.

7:29 AM · May 28, 2022

Christian Parenti: How the Organized Left Got COVID Wrong | Iraq War & More | The Grayzone

Iraq converage 1

From THE COMMON ILLS:

Iraq

It's Memorial Day weekend. US President Joe Biden decided to celebrate by lying yet again:

President Biden Friday again made an exaggeration about the number of times he's been to the Middle East, as he gave a commencement speech to U.S. Naval Academy graduates in Maryland.

"I've been in and out of Iraq and Afghanistan of over 40 I think 38 times," the president said.

That number was incorrect, however. A spokesperson for Biden's National Security Council (NSC) said Friday the correct number of times Biden visited Iraq and Afghanistan is 21.

Joe's not the only liar in the news, there's also Amber Heard. Jamie Burton (NEWSWEEK) reports:

A "disabled combat veteran" says that Amber Heard's PTSD score from her marriage to Johnny Depp is allegedly higher than his own.

The tweet, sent out by the account @KurtMyers1982, whose bio describes him as a "retired Army, homeschool dad" from Nebraska, went viral and caught the attention of thousands of people invested in the court case between Depp and Heard.

Depp and Heard are currently embroiled in a $50 million defamation suit which comes after Heard wrote an op-ed for The Washington Post in 2018, stating that she was the survivor of domestic violence. Heard has countersued her ex-husband for $100 million.

"I am a disabled combat veteran that lost a close friend in Iraq in 2005," he tweeted on Thursday. "Amber Heard scored much higher than me on her PTSD test, according to Dr. Hughes. Evidently, being married to Johnny Depp is far more traumatic than the Iraq War." The popular hashtag #JusticeForJohnnyDepp was included in the tweet.

Remember, boys and girls, Amber has never been in combat -- it's age and drugs that make her face look that way.

Meanwhile the government of Turkey continues its assault on Iraq. MEHR NEWS notes:

According to "almaalomah" news website, the Secretary-General of Asaib Ahl al-Haq (AAH) Qais al-Khazali made the comments in a meeting with tribal leaders in the holy city of Najaf.

"The Turks have long dreamed of 'Mosul province', which includes parts of Iraqi Kurdistan and Kirkuk. Turkey is trying to occupy part of Iraq in 2023, coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the so-called Lausanne Treaty."

"Today, Turkish forces have about 66 military bases in Iraq, and Ankara uses PKK as a cover to conduct military action in Iraq. Turkish forces are advancing and establishing military positions in Iraq as the 100th anniversary of the end of the Lausanne Treaty, signed in 1923, approaches and it is preparing to occupy parts of Iraq in 2023," the Shia Iraq politician added.

ANHA adds:

Member of the Parliamentary Security and Defense Committee in Iraq, Ahmed Al-Moussawi, said in a press statement, on Saturday, that "the committee held urgent and intensive meetings during the past days in order to stop the Turkish incursion into the Iraqi depth," according to what Roj news reported.

He added, "The Turkish presence is rejected, and an urgent meeting will be held with the Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and security leaders in order to find a common formula to deal with the Turkish occupation."

Al-Moussawi explained that "the Turkish army penetrated more than 50 kilometers into the Iraqi depth and established several military bases under various pretexts, which is a clear occupation and a flagrant violation of Iraq's sovereignty."

Though Jeremy Corbyn has found his voice on this issue and called out the government of Turkey, most in the west just look the other way. This as Turkey apparently intends to intensify their attacks. NEWS AM reports:

Turkey has almost completed preparations for two military offensives into Syria and Iraq, the HaberTürk network reported, a day after the country's Security Council issued a statement stating the need for an invasion.

Preparations for the invasion of both countries are 90% complete, HaberTürk said, citing military officials, noting that offensive operations will be limited to the west of the Euphrates River.

Turkey continues terrorizing citizens, wounding them and murdering them while violating Iraq's sovereignty. RUDAW noted Thursday:

Two children were killed in Duhok province’s Zewa village on Thursday during clashes between the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and Turkish army, according to sources.

Birqi Omar, mukhtar (chieftain) of Zewa village in Amedi town, told Rudaw’s Hunar Rashid that people from nearby areas picnicked in the village but were targeted with bombs.

“As far as we know, the PKK on Metina mountain targeted Turkish military base with three bombs. Then, Turkey bombed our families, killing two people, aged 10, and injuring another,” said the official.

That's the government of Turkey, making the world 'safer' from children who picnic.

RUDAW also noted:

A village on the border of Duhok province’s Akre was bombarded by suspected Turkish warplanes on Tuesday without resulting in any casualties, local officials told Rudaw, presumably targeting positions of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the mountainous regions of the area as Turkey continues its operations against the Kurdish opposition group in the Kurdistan Region.

We'll wind down with this from Kevin Reed (WSWS):

The baby formula crisis that is threatening the lives of infants across the US deepened this week as the out-of-stock rate for baby formula on store shelves surged to 70 percent for the week ending May 22. The shortage rate during the previous week was 45 percent, according to the retail tracking firm Datasembly.

The supply shortage is so severe that there are now reports in some areas of the country of mothers attempting to purchase breast milk online from anonymous and independent sources such as Facebook and Craigslist. Pediatric nutritionists are warning that such measures are potentially very harmful to children.

The crisis of powdered formula supplies, 90 percent of which are produced by four monopolies that dominate the US pediatric nutrition industry, is not a mistake or a product of unforeseen circumstances. It is the outcome of a society run by a ruling elite that, in its singular preoccupation with increasing its wealth, is totally indifferent to the lives and well-being of children.

There has been a combination of criminal negligence, corporate profiteering, stock market manipulation and government complicity that have resulted in the shortage of the essential food needed by infants and toddlers, especially those from poor and working-class families.

The supply shortage began almost immediately following the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in February 2020 when supply chains and transportation were disrupted internationally. During the initial days of the pandemic, families stockpiled the formula and emptied shelves. This was followed by a sharp fall in sales, and manufacturers cut back on production.

Now, with an uptick in births and a dramatic decline in breastfeeding rates among new mothers, demand has shot up again. The inability of the producers to adapt to fluctuations in demand is itself an expression of the anarchistic and unplanned nature of capitalist economics.

The following sites updated: