above is Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Keep Falling In And Out Of Iraq." i love it. i also love this classic 70s photo.
diana ross, elton john, and cher (1975)
diana ross, elton john and cher.
classic. on the topic of the 1 and only diana ross, let me note 'Jim's World' where jim is quoting from a column c.i. wrote for community newsletter 'polly's brew.' let me note 1st, jim has permission. c.i. probably wouldn't have agreed were it not for the fact that every 1 wanted the latest edition of 3rd estate up and done asap. so from jim's column, here's c.i.:
For twenty-two years, Diana made the pop charts. And she hit the top fifty every year during those twenty years. 21 years, she hit the top forty but in 1978 she had two songs that almost made the top forty -- "You Got It" which only made it to forty-nine and "Ease On Down The Road" with Michael Jackson which only made it to forty-one.
Is he unaware that none of Diana's peers were able to better that run of 22 consecutive years? Yes, that includes Dusty Springfield, Aretha Franklin, Cher and assorted other big name female artists. It also includes many of the men. In fact, her male equivalent would be Paul McCartney and, like her, he ends his consecutive streak in 1986. Yes, he later comes back with five more songs that go top fifty but none of them goes top ten. And he doesn't make any other US charts.
By contrast, Diana does. Like Cher, Diana is a fixture on the dance charts. Since 1986, when she last had a top forty pop hit, she's had eleven tracks chart on the dance chart -- four of which went number one. Three of the number ones are after Ribowsky's bad book came out. But before it was published in 2009, she'd already hit number three on the dance chart in 1989 with "Love Hangover '89," number one in 1995 with "Take Me Higher," and hit number two in 1999 with "Until We Meet Again." Also before the 2009 publication, Diana took "If We Hold On Together" to number 23 on the AC chart in 1988 and her 2006 duet with Rod Stewart ("I've Got A Crush On You") to number 19 on the AC chart. Four number ones on the dance chart -- one before this stupid book was written. Paul's had nothing like that. None of her peers have.
Why are there one set of rules for Diana and another set for everyone else?
As you read Ribowsky painting her a bitch with regards to Florence Ballard, you should really ask yourself that. Florence got herself fired. She showed up drunk one too many times and she also got too large for the costumes. Berry Gordy saw the Supremes as a way to break through the glass that kept African-Americans on the outside. In addition to being a great singer Diana was also a fashion plate and trendsetter -- like Twiggy, for example. Berry was also helping the three ladies. Diana, Mary and Florence were playing the Copa and Vegas and they could go on to do that forever and a day if they did their part. Showing up drunk isn't your part. Sticking your belly out onstage to make yourself appear even fatter isn't doing your part.
Mary did her part. When the hits dried up for the Diana-less Supremes, Mary's career didn't end. She could perform in clubs across the country -- and did so. Because she did the work required.
That's the reality that no one wants to address.
Instead, we get this myth that Diana betrayed Florence. Why?
They weren't sisters. They weren't even friends. Paul's not accused of betraying John Lennon but he wasn't talking to John at the end and they'd spent the entire 70s hating one another. Mick Jagger got Brian Jones fired from the Rolling Stones and, like Florence, Brian died. No one holds it against Mick.
It's sexism to pretend that a woman can't conduct herself in a business relationship but must instead act like anyone she works with is her best friend. Diana and Florence were not best friends. They weren't even friends. Same with Diana and Mary and, truth be told, Mary and Florence.
"Well, it's different because these three were portrayed by the media as friends!"
I believe Paul, John, George and Ringo -- as well as Mick and everyone of the Stones -- were portrayed as friends and "blokes." Again, John wasn't speaking to Paul. George would die in 2001 and he wasn't speaking to Paul. In fact, the Supremes and the Beatles were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the same year. What did Diana and Paul share that year? They both decided to skip the ceremony.
But Diana's a bitch? Again, these different sets of standard are unfair and when you read a book of garbage like Ribowki's book, you really need examine how he's portraying reality and then think about how reality truly is.
diana has repeatedly been held to a different standard, that's not fair.
let's close with c.i.'s "Iraq snapshot:"
Monday, January 20, 2020. What if you campaigned for the presidency and
no one showed up at your scheduled events (poor Deval!), War Hawk Joe
Biden remains a menace, protests continue in Iraq and at least one
protester has been killed by security forces in Baghdad . . .
In the US, the race for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination continues. In one of the more embarrassing moments, no one turns out for Governor Who. Let's include Isaiah's "Pro-rape Deval."
Maybe you forgot he was in the race, maybe you never knew but Governor Who is making as much of an impression nationally as he did when he was governor. Pro-rape Deval Patrick had a campaign event. Paul Duke's article (STEADFAST DAILY) e-mailed to the public e-mail account explains what happened next: Patrick showed up at his scheduled event at Morehouse College in Atlanta only to discover only two students showed up for his event (and Duke says they were stopped in the hall and corralled in). At that point, Deval cancelled the event. Governor Who indeed.
And then there's War Hawk Joe.
In the US, the race for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination continues. In one of the more embarrassing moments, no one turns out for Governor Who. Let's include Isaiah's "Pro-rape Deval."
Maybe you forgot he was in the race, maybe you never knew but Governor Who is making as much of an impression nationally as he did when he was governor. Pro-rape Deval Patrick had a campaign event. Paul Duke's article (STEADFAST DAILY) e-mailed to the public e-mail account explains what happened next: Patrick showed up at his scheduled event at Morehouse College in Atlanta only to discover only two students showed up for his event (and Duke says they were stopped in the hall and corralled in). At that point, Deval cancelled the event. Governor Who indeed.
And then there's War Hawk Joe.
Seriously tho
How is Joe Biden really the Democratic frontrunner?
He doesn't know where he is, he can barely speak, and he inappropriately touches women and girls
Joe is the choice of the corporate media and they prop him up.
‘Middle Class’ Joe Biden has a corruption problem – it makes him a weak candidate | Zephyr Teachout
At THE GUARDIAN, Zephyr explains:
It looks like “Middle Class” Joe has perfected the art of taking big contributions, then representing his corporate donors at the cost of middle- and working-class Americans. Converting campaign contributions into legislative favors and policy positions isn’t being “moderate”. It is the kind of transactional politics Americans have come to loathe.
There are three clear examples.
First, Biden’s support for finance over working-class Americans. His career was bankrolled by the credit card industry. He delivered for it by spearheading a bankruptcy bill that made it harder for Americans to reduce their debts and helped cause the financial crisis. He not only authored and voted for that bill, he split with Barack Obama and led the battle to vote down Democratic amendments.
His explanations for carrying water for the credit card industry have changed over time. They have never rung true.
The simplest explanation is the most likely: he did it for his donors. At a fundraiser last year, Biden promised his Wall Street donors that “nothing would fundamentally change” for them if he became president. Now the financial world is raising huge money for his campaign. It clearly thinks he’s going to be its friend if elected. Most Americans, who get ripped off by the financial sector on a daily basis, aren’t looking for a candidate who has made their life harder.
Second, healthcare. On 25 April, the day he announced his campaign, Biden went straight to a fundraiser co-hosted by the chief executive of a major health insurance corporation. He refuses to sign a pledge to reject money from insurance and pharma execs and continues to raise money from healthcare industry donors. His campaign is being bankrolled by a super Pac run by healthcare lobbyists.
What did all these donors get? A healthcare proposal that preserves the power of the insurance industry and leaves 10 million Americans uninsured.
And, of course, there's Joe's decade long war against Social Security. David Sirota deserves strong credit for getting this important news into the media cycle.
Joe Biden wasn’t being sarcastic — pass it on
David Sirota
This video now has 1 million views
David Sirota Retweeted
If Biden refuses to acknowledge his past positions on Social Security and explain how he has changed his views then he deserves all the wrath that Sanders and others can dump on him. It is that simple.
- Joe Biden is trying to distract attention from his longtime crusade to cut Social Security - and hes doing that at the same time Mitch McConnell says he wants to work with the next Democratic president to cut Social Security. We're not letting it happen. cnn.com/2020/01/19/pol…
Turning to Iraq . . .
. . . where the months long protests continue this morning. ALJAZEERA reports:
Security forces have fired tear gas and live fire in an attempt to clear roads in Iraq's
capital, Baghdad, as hundreds of protesters again took to the streets
to express their anger at the embattled government's slow pace of
reforms.
Demonstrators a week ago had given the government
until Monday to act on their demands, which include the holding of a
snap poll under a new electoral law, the appointment of an independent
prime minister and the prosecution of officials suspected of corruption.
Starting on Sunday and continuing on
Monday, young demonstrators in Baghdad and the south began sealing off
highways and bridges with burning tyres.
"We blocked the road to demand our rights ... the rights of young
people to get a job," said one of the protesters in the capital, who
wished to remain anonymous. "We demand the central government go to early elections and the nomination of a new independent prime minister. If that doesn't happen, we will escalate and block all the highway and centres of the city."
The response? ALJAZEERA's Imran Khan notes that the security forces are firing bullets into the crowd and at least one protestor has been killed.
At least 13 wounded in violent protests in Baghdad: officials bloggvalley.co/2020/01/20/at-…
What are they demanding? It's right there in the report above. So let's note the whore that's waddling his fat ass into the discussion. Ladies and gentlemen, the one, the only Raed Jarrar.
While some corrupt politicians and militias try to hijack the protest movement in #Iraq, Iraqis in #Baghdad, #Nasiriyah, and other cities took to the streets to protest all foreign interventions, including those of the #US and #Iran.
Yes, Iraqis want both US and Iran troops out -- actually, they want all foreign troops out which does include Turkish troops though no one wants to hear Iraq when they make that last call.
To be fair to Raed, whom I don't care for, I did go through his Tweets, this morning. He never notes -- going back a month -- the demands of the Iraqi people who are protesting. He notes the issue of Iraq and US troops. That's why Raed really isn't the person to speak to this issue though, it turns out, PACIFICA is again making him the go to. There are many reasons that is a problem but you can refer to 2013's "Media: The Collapse of Indymedia and its Queen." I will give Raed credit for not falling into the 'St. Soleimani was killed!' crowd. That's not a minor point if you remember how high the crazy was cranked by a number of loud voices on that issue.
Raed wants US troops out of Iraq. I do as well. My wants and my desires do not allow me to reduce a months long protest and its goals to one issue, especially when it isn't the primary issue.
You have many Iraqis on Arabic social media, Iraqis who protest, who are very nervous about this Friday. Shi'ite cleric and movement leader Moqtada al-Sadr has called for Friday's protest to be about expelling foreign troops. They're not wanting to be hijacked by Moqtada. Some of that is starting to bubble up in the media. Gareth Browne (ALJAZEERA) notes:
Many of the people in Baghdad’s Tahrir Square are deeply sceptical of Sadr’s motives, fearing he may attempt to hijack the popular protest movement for his own gain.
“Sadr has nothing to do with us, we don’t want him, we don’t want his militia, he is a part of the problem,” Hozam Hunaidi, 24, told Al Jazeera.
“I will die before I march behind his banner. I have been here for three months, sleeping in the cold, facing danger - I did not do that for him,” he added.
“He [Sadr] will try to wipe us off the map, if the Sadrists come to Tahrir, we will fight back,” warned Hamoud Ali, 32.
Qassem Abdul-Zahra and Samya Kullab (AP) add:
The U.N. envoy to Iraq, meanwhile, urged Iraqi political elites to resume pushing for reforms and for protests to remain peaceful.
“Any steps taken so far to address the people's concerns will remain hollow, if they are not completed,” said Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert in a statement issued by the U.N. “Violent suppression of peaceful protesters is intolerable and must be avoided at all costs. Nothing is more damaging than a climate of fear.”
In the southern city of Nasiriyah, protesters blocked the highway linking the city to the southern oil-rich province of Basra. At least six protesters were wounded when an unknown gunmen fired at them from a speeding car, a medical official said. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity under regulations.
Disheartening reports that security forces once again meet protesters with violence in #Baghdad.
It is the right of every #Iraqi to be allowed to protest peacefully. It is the duty of Iraqi security forces to protect that right.
#العراق_ينتفض
#بغداد
Isaiah's THE WORLD TODAY JUST NUTS "Keep Falling In And Out Of Iraq" went up last night. New content at THIRD:
- Truest statement of the week
- A note to our readers
- Editorial: Will we use our voices?
- TV: Do not feed the beast
- Jim's World
- A story that needs more attention from the world
- Pay attention to what you buy on AMAZON
- Tweet of the week
- This edition's playlist
The following sites updated:
TV: Do not feed the beast
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Love or Loneliness
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Sunday Reads
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Jazz Saxophone Legend Jimmy Heath Has Died
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