Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude

7/19/2022

barbra trivia

terry stumped me. he e-mailed me with trivia and i failed. he asked me what was barbra streisand's 1st gold album? after i found out i was wrong, i asked c.i. and she knew without hesitation.

so what was it?

i said 'the barbra streisand album.' that was barbra's 1st album. and it did go gold.

c.i. said 'the second barbra streisand album.' she's correct. that was the 1st album to go gold for barbra. eventually the 1st album would go gold but her 1st album that went gold was 'the second barbra streisand album.' it is the better album. her singing's better. the music is better. the song selection is better and she performs 'gotta' move' which was written for her by peter matz.

the album was released october 1, 1963 and was certified gold may 12, 1964. 7 months was all it took.

'the barbra streisand album' was released february 25, 1963 and it wouldn't be certified gold until october 16, 1964 - 1 year and 8 months after it was released, the 1st album was finally certified gold.

let's close with c.i.'s 'Iraq snapshot:'

Tuesday, July 19, 2022. Climate change continues to threaten all life while politicians dither, Nouri al-Maliki continues to deny that it's his voice on the leaked recordings, and much more.

Brett Wilkins (COMMON DREAMS) notes:

Record-breaking heat has killed over 1,000 people in Western Europe over the past week, while firefighters battle to contain blazes scorching swathes of three countries amid a worsening climate emergency, officials said this weekend.

El País reports heat killed 360 people in Spain between July 10 and July 15. This follows the heat-related deaths of more than 800 people last month, according to the Spanish government's Carlos III Health Institute. Madrid-Barajas International Airport recorded an all-time high temperature of 108°F Thursday, while some Spanish municipalities registered highs of 110°F to 113°F.

One 60-year-old Madrid sanitation worker collapsed in the middle of the street while working Friday. The man was rushed to the hospital with a body temperature of over 106°F and died of heat stroke. He was one of 123 people who suffered heat-related deaths Friday in Spain.

In drought-ravaged Portugal, where temperatures soared to over 116° in Pinhão on Friday, the Health Ministry said Saturday that 659 people, most of them elderly, have died from heat-related causes over the past week.

Climate is effecting everyone. In the US, the phrase being tossed around currently is "heat apocalypse." Jake Johnson (COMMON DREAMS) reports:

With large swaths of the planet currently in the grips of hellish, record-shattering heatwaves and devastating wildfires, U.S. President Joe Biden is reportedly considering declaring a national climate emergency this week as a senator with deep ties to the fossil fuel industry continues to obstruct much-needed renewable energy spending.

Biden's plans for a possible emergency declaration, first reported late Monday by the Washington Post, come as the White House is facing mounting pressure to take unilateral climate action as its agenda remains stalled in the upper chamber of Congress, hampering U.S. efforts to rein in planet-warming carbon emissions as temperatures soar worldwide.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), a coal profiteer who has received more money from the oil and gas industry than any other member of Congress this election cycle, reportedly told Democratic leaders in a closed-door meeting last week that he would not support any new green energy spending. Manchin's decision threw into serious doubt the majority party's chances of approving key climate investments ahead of the November midterms.

"Iraq is at the frontlines of the climate crisis, with temperatures rising twice as fast as the global average. It’s also a major oil producer and the world’s second largest offender of gas flaring, a process that releases CO2," THE NEWSHOUR (PBS) noted back in January. In Iraq, climate change means dust storms have increased in frequency, drought is taking place, agriculture sector is impacted and much more. The World Bank explains, "Impacts from the climate change, such as increases in temperatures and decreases in rain, are expected to effect Iraq’s water resources, the agriculture sector, its biodiversity, and the health sector."

At The European Council for Foreign Policy, Nussaibah Younis writes:

A series of dramatic events in the last six months brought home the reality, and dangers, of climate change to the Iraqi public. Nine dust storms swept through the country in a period of only eight weeks, leading to the closure of government offices and airports, stifling economic activity, and hospitalising thousands of people. Cells of the Islamic State group (ISIS) took advantage of the reduced visibility caused by the storms to launch attacks on Iraqi security forces.

At the start of 2022, the news that Lake Sawa in Muthanna province had completely dried up led to an outpouring of grief and nostalgia as local people and commentators lamented the impact on livelihoods and on the identity of the province. Further alarming stories have followed about critically low water levels in Lake Hamrin in Diyala province and about increasing pollution in Lake Razzaz in Karbala province.

And back in 2018, water quality in Basra declined substantially as rising water levels in the Persian Gulf combined with reduced water flows from upstream rivers and diminished rainfall to increase salinity in the city’s Shatt al-Arab river. This caused the hospitalisation of close to 120,000 people, and led to thousands of citizens joining mass protests against local and federal government authorities. Security forces and politically affiliated armed groups responded with violence, killing at least 31 people and injuring hundreds of others. The government’s poor handling of the crisis ended prime minister Haidar al-Abadi’s bid for a second term in office, damaged the legitimacy of state institutions, and enabled armed groups to launch a campaign of targeted assassinations against activists and protesters.

Such events have finally brought the issue of climate change into Iraq’s political debate – but the country’s leaders are yet to take meaningful action. This is despite the fact that the medium- and long-term outlook for Iraq and climate impacts is extremely serious. In 2019, a UN report classed Iraq as the world’s fifth most vulnerable country in terms of availability of water and food, and exposure to extreme temperatures. Temperatures in the country are increasing up to seven times faster than the global average, while annual rainfall is predicted to decrease by 9 per cent by 2050. At the same time, the country faces a rate of population growth that is twice the global average, at 2.25 per cent a year; its population is set to reach 50 million by 2030 and 70 million by 2050.

These dynamics are driving significant rural-to-urban migration, placing enormous pressure on limited services and employment opportunities in urban areas, triggering social unrest, and fuelling inter-provincial and inter-tribal competition and conflict. In some cases they have enabled extremist groups to gain footholds in impoverished rural areas. Iraq’s inadequate governance, anaemic private sector, and consequent lack of foreign direct investment hinders the country from taking more concerted action to address both the causes and effects of climate change. Its poor internal governance also leads to wasteful water management, placing it on a weaker footing vis-à-vis upstream countries Turkey and Iran, which are building dams that worsen the situation in Iraq.

Iraq urgently needs to agree, and allocate significant funding towards, a working climate action policy agenda. Europeans can offer their support in a number of ways – certainly on the technical front, but also by persuading Iraq’s political leaders of the benefits of such an agenda not only for addressing the impacts of the changing climate but also for improving internal governance and diversifying the country’s economy.

Today, MENAFN reports:

Iraq has urged Turkey to allow more water to flow into the Tigris and Euphrates rivers due to the Arab nation's long-standing water deficit in Mesopotamia, sparking a water conflict between the two neighboring countries.

According to an Iraqi statement, Iraq's Water Resources Minister Mehdi al-Hamdani has asked Turkey's president's special envoy for Iraq, Veysel Eroglu, to enhance "quantities of water arriving in Iraq through the Tigris and Euphrates."

Hamdani informed Eroglu via video-conference to urge Turkish officials “to re-examine the amounts of water released, in order to allow Iraq to overcome the current water shortage," it noted.

Eroglu also stated he would pass on the request to water authorities in Ankara to "increase the amounts of water released in the coming days, according to (Turkey's) available reserves", the announcement claimed.

On the issue of rural-to-urban migration, yesterday RUDAW reported:

Three hundred houses in a village in Erbil province’s Shamamk district have not had water for a month. Around fifteen houses are also reportedly listed for sale as residents are fed up of the shortages.

Kafia Ali, a resident of the village, put a water hose in a 20-liter bottle in an attempt to fill it. She has already filled three liters in two hours and has to buy water every two days.

Another resident, moved his family to his father’s house because of the water supply shortages.

“The water should be available for us now, but there is no water,” Ibrahim Yousif, a local resident, told Rudaw’s Farhad Dolamari on Friday.

“It has been three days since I sent my wife and kids to my father’s house because there is no water,” he added.

At the door of almost every house in the village, you see a row of water bottles.

While the government does little, others take note. Sinan Mahmoud (THE NATIONAL) reports:

Artist Ziyad Jassam went to great efforts to find the perfect location in one of Baghdad’s suburbs to create his latest landscape painting.

Everything has changed in the south-east district of Arab Jibour, once home to lush green orchards of palm trees and fruit, that lies to the west of the Tigris.

“I kept driving around looking for a green space but unfortunately I found only the ruins of an old orchard,” Jassam, who was looking for a scene to paint for a forthcoming exhibition, told The National.

“This new reality is so painful."

At the annual Iraqi Landscape Exhibition, local artists are lamenting the loss of so much nature, expressing concern about the climate crisis which imperils Iraq today, making it the fifth-most vulnerable country to the rapid warming of the world.

No government is really addressing climate change at the present. Iraq has the excuse that it doesn't have a real government currently. Elections were held October 10th. Despite that fact, Iraq has still not come up with a new prime minister or president.

And, over the weekend, a new roadblock appeared to emerge. AFP reported:

The Iraqi political scene has been ablaze for the past 72 hours due to the emergence of recordings attributed to Nuri al-Maliki, the ex-Iraqi PM, in which he appears to be criticising and insulting Moqtada al-Sadr, one of Iraq's strongest Shiite political figures whose faction won big in the 2021 general parliamentary election.

“The issue is that there is a British project aiming to put Moqtada in control of the Shia and Iraq, then they would kill him and give Iraq to the Sunnis. The issue is not al-Maliki [myself], I can just leave and take refuge in the house of Malek and have 2000 fighters protecting me, no one will be able to get to me. That project exists, but I am fighting it, and it is to be fought politically and militarily,” said Nuri al-Maliki about his longtime political rival, Moqtada al-Sadr, in a leaked recording.

“Iran helped al-Sadr, to make him a new Nasrallah [Lebanese Hezbollah chief] in Iraq”, he continued in his tirade against the Shiite leader. “Moqtada is a murderer, how many did he kill in Baghdad? The kidnappings, the car bombs, he is not a master, he is a coward, a traitor, an ignorant who knows nothing (…) I know the Sadrists, I fought them in Basra, Karbala and Baghdad, we had no weapons and the Iranians had given them advanced missiles and we still won,” he said of al-Sadr and his followers.

Nuri al-Maliki, leader of the Shiite party known as the State of Law Coalition and one of the leaders of the Coordination Framework, a Shiite coalition currently holding parliamentary majority, denied the veracity of the recordings via Twitter. He said that the recordings, released on social media by journalist Ali Fadel, were fake. Moqtada al-Sadr, for his part, said that the recordings mean nothing.

Nouri al-Maliki. A major player in Iraq. One that the press ignored in the lead up to the October 10th election -- the western press ignored. That pleased the US State Dept but don't pretend it was journalism. They really continue to ignore him.

Saturday, we observed, "Recordings featuring supposedly Nouri aren't being covered by THE WASHINGTON POST, THE NEW YORK TIMES, MCCLATCHY . . . go down the list. It's a story, a rather major story and all over Arabic social media. Just not covered by US outlets." That remains true all these days later.

In a series of Tweets, Tammus Intel covered the recording.

Noori Almaliki: 
1- The next phase in Iraq is war, the other speaker says "we are ready" ( after analyzing the records it turned out that the ones who were talking with Noori Almaliki are members of Kataib Hezbollah) 
#Iraq

1:31 PM · Jul 16, 2022

2- I told Mustafa Alkadhimi that everyone will protect themselves by their own and Muqtada is coming to kill and slaughter and i will not count on army and police.  
3- Muqtada will target me first because i ruined their agendas in Iraq. 
#Iraq

1:31 PM · Jul 16, 2022

4- I started arming groups and if he attacks us i will even attack Najaf.
5- Muqtada wants blood and he's coward, he wants money and he robbed Iraq, he thinks that he's the Mahdi. 
6- My tribe will protect me and they are ready. 
#Iraq

1:31 PM · Jul 16, 2022

7- I call my good supporters to be ready and i will also not count on the PMF because they are also cowards. 
8-Iraq is heading to a bloody war that no one will be saved from unless we end Sadr, Halbosi and Barzani project. 
#Iraq

1:31 PM · Jul 16, 2022

Today, Riham Darwish (ALBAWABA) reports:

The audio leaks that have stirred much debate in Iraq have been preserved as dangerous ones that might interrupt the country's hardly stable political scene, especially since it features major political plans that could turn into violent clashes between followers of both political leaders.

In the five audio excerpts leaked accounting for nearly 15 minutes of conversation, former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is believed to criticize the Shia scholar, politician, and militia leader Muqtada al-Sadr, who has been leading the Sadrist Movement in recent years.

Nouri al-Maliki was the third and longest-serving Prime Minister of Iraq following the US invasion and the toppling of Saddam Hussien in 2003.

Among statements that have driven major reactions in Iraq was Nouri al-Maliki's description of Muqtada al-Sadr as "a bloodthirsty murderer" who is "spiteful". "He is also a coward who robbed the whole country", Nouri al-Maliki adds.

Pledging to not "keep the Shia and Iraq in the hands of Moqtada al-Sadr", the Shia politician claims that his country "is on the verge of a devastating war from which no one will survive except by defeating Muqtada al-Sadr and his political allies".

Never one to skip the drama, Miss Moqtada al-Sadr has waded in. ASHARQ AL-AWSAT notes:

Cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, head of the Sadrist movement, called on Iraqi former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to turn himself over to the judiciary in wake of his explosive and damning voice recordings.

Known as the “Maliki WikiLeaks,” the recordings of the former premier include threats to Sadr and sharp criticism of the Popular Mobilization Forces.

Sadr had initially dismissed the recordings, calling on his supporters to do the same, saying he had “no regard” for Maliki.

Chenar Chalak (RUDAW) adds, "Sadr, who initially asked his supporters to dismiss the recordings, strongly fired back in a Twitter statement on Monday, asking all parliamentary bloc leaders who are allied with Maliki to denounce the allegations made against him, and above all to reject the statements made in the recordings against the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF)."

The following sites updated:

7/18/2022

'animal kingdom'

'animal kingdom' aired a new episode last night on 'tnt.' craig beat up deran last week. now he needs help - his baby's been kidnapped - where does he go? deran, of course. craig is such a wimp. so they get the baby back - and kill the man who kidnapped craig's son. and now, for safety, craig's baby mama is back living with him.

j continues to see the paralegal. is she married? is it to a man? he stops off at her place and she tells him he can't do that because her husband will find out. a woman walks out to the drive way. she tells j it's her sister. later, when they are drinking and throwing axes - you read that right - he asks if that was her sister and he shares he knows 1 thing, she was high. he talks about julia (his dead mother) and the woman asks if she ever got straightened out and j say 'no.'

throwing axes. it's like throwing darts only they have fence - netting up between each target. i don't know that would make me feel safe. there's always some idiot who thinks they can put-put and the golf ball goes way off. or some fool who thinks they can throw a dart but they can't. can you imagine getting hit in the head with an axe by mistake?

let's deal with flashbacks. smurf? did she do something with pope? i've tried to avoid that but it seems more and more likely. in this flashback, he's probably 17 and she walks in on him getting out of the shower and is soon wrapped around him from behind. i know she's not a 'good' mother but did she really cross the line and is that why pope is so screwed up?

pope, in the present, is excited about his date with amy. but guess who shows up? the fbi agent posing as the mother of the skater pope has been helping. she says he's missing and needs pope's help to find him. pope clearly does not trust her but tries to help. while he's out of his car, she searches it, finds a gun and takes photos of it. later, while he and amy are at the end of their date, she shows up claiming she left her phone by accident in his car and she was able to pinpoint it through gps. pope let's her get her phone but clearly does not trust her at all.

he's at home and he notices the cereal boxes aren't right. (she messed them up last episode when snooping.) he asks j if he did it but j says no. pope knows they're being spied upon.

it was a tight episode with not a lot of fluff.

let's close with c.i.'s 'Iraq snapshot:'

Monday, July 18, 2022. Joe Biden makes a historic (for the US) visit to Iraq, the Turkish government kills more Iraqi civilians, Iraq has a case of "Maliki Wikileaks" and much more.

US President Joe Biden concluded his Middle East trip over the weekend. The visit to Iraq on Sunday was historic. Why?

You’ll also hear President Biden welcome Iraq -- concluding agreements with Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Jordan -- to bring affordable energy to Iraq and diversify its supply, and ensure energy resiliency to meet the growing needs of its people.

And the landmark agreement that was signed just last night in Iraq and the GCC Interconnection Authority -- the President mentioned this last night in his remarks -- will link Iraq’s electricity grid to the grids in the GCC, thereby providing the Iraqi people with newly diversified sources of electricity over the coming decade. And it’s important because much of Iraq’s electricity, as of now and for many years, is very much reliant upon gas from Iran. So diversifying Iraq’s electricity base and generation (inaudible) sources will benefit the Iraqi people, particularly as their demand continues to grow.

And this connection with the GCC -- between Iraq and the GCC -- has really been talked about for years. I think the President mentioned yesterday that it was discussed when he was Vice President but it was never able to get done. But over, you know, the last six months or so when, again, U.S. diplomacy relationships, partnerships, creativity was able to get these important agreements over the line for the first time last night.

No, not for that nonsense of what may come and what may not come.

But that crap is why the US press sucks so damn bad. And it does go to how stupid the people Joe has surrounded himself at the White House actually are.

Here's what they fed the press ahead of the visit.

It's what you read and heard from 'reporters' in the US. They just know how to repeat, they don't know how to report.

Joe could have done a bit of a 'victory lap' while in Iraq.

Though they're too stupid to grasp it, his visit was historic. It was the first time, since the US-led war started the Iraq War in 2003, that a US president had gone to Iraq without having to sneak in. Joe's visit was announced ahead of time. It was public.

Now the UK had done that already, going back to when Gordon Brown was prime minister.

From 2009 through 2016, all of Barack's visits were surprise, unannounced visits.

Adam Taylor (WASHINGTON POST) in December 27, 2018:

President Trump made his first visit to a conflict zone as commander in chief this week, visiting troops at al-Asad Air Base in western Iraq on Wednesday. The unannounced journey took place just days after he declared that he planned to remove U.S. troops from Syria and saw his own defense secretary resign in response.

Donald only made the one visit to Iraq.

Joe's the first sitting US President to visit Iraq without having to sneak in. The trip was announced ahead of time and it was not a 'surprise' or 'unannounced' visit.

Let's stay with Iraq because there was major news over the weekend though the only western outlet to acknowledge that was AFP. On Saturday, AFP reported:

Recordings featuring supposedly Nouri aren't being covered by THE WASHINGTON POST, THE NEW YORK TIMES, MCCLATCHY . . . go down the list. It's a story, a rather major story and all over Arabic social media. Just not covered by US outlets.

In a series of Tweets, Tammus Intel covers the recording.

Noori Almaliki: 
1- The next phase in Iraq is war, the other speaker says "we are ready" ( after analyzing the records it turned out that the ones who were talking with Noori Almaliki are members of Kataib Hezbollah) 
#Iraq

1:31 PM · Jul 16, 2022

2- I told Mustafa Alkadhimi that everyone will protect themselves by their own and Muqtada is coming to kill and slaughter and i will not count on army and police.  
3- Muqtada will target me first because i ruined their agendas in Iraq. 
#Iraq

1:31 PM · Jul 16, 2022

4- I started arming groups and if he attacks us i will even attack Najaf.
5- Muqtada wants blood and he's coward, he wants money and he robbed Iraq, he thinks that he's the Mahdi. 
6- My tribe will protect me and they are ready. 
#Iraq

1:31 PM · Jul 16, 2022

7- I call my good supporters to be ready and i will also not count on the PMF because they are also cowards. 
8-Iraq is heading to a bloody war that no one will be saved from unless we end Sadr, Halbosi and Barzani project. 
#Iraq

1:31 PM · Jul 16, 2022

It's being dubbed "Malaiki Wikileaks." ASHARAQ AL-AWSAT reports:

Iraq’s judiciary is expected to examine two complaints to probe the voice recordings attributed to former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in which he criticized politicians, notably his rival cleric Moqtada al-Sadr.

Known in Iraq as the “Maliki WikiLeaks”, the former PM threatened to attack Najaf city to protect the country’s highest Shiite authority should Sadr attack it himself.

Lawyers who filed the complaints have demanded that Maliki be held accountable for the recordings, which they said “harm national security and incite strife and sectarian violence.”

A rights source told Asharq Al-Awsat that Maliki may be tried in a special court over terrorism charges.

He added, however, that a trial is unlikely because the judiciary in Iraq is politicized.

On Wednesday, activist and journalist Ali Fadhel released around one minute of the recording. He has around 48 minutes worth of recordings and will release a minute or two a day so that they will have a popular and political impact in the country.

In the latest recording on Sunday, Maliki said: “The coming phase is that of fighting. I told this yesterday to Prime Minister [Mustafa] al-Kadhimi.”

“I told him that I am not relying on you, the army or the police. They will not do anything,” he was heard saying.

“Iraq is approaching a brutal war from which no one will emerge unscathed unless we manage to stop Sadr, [parliament Speaker Mohammed] al-Halbousi and Masoud Barzani,” he added.

Maliki’s remarks clearly date back to two months when the Sadr-Halbousi-Barzani alliance was still standing. Around a month ago, Sadr’s parliamentary bloc of 73 MPs resigned from the legislature.

THE ARAB WEEKLY notes the recordings this morning:

The latest sequel of audio leaks of alleged statements by former Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and current head of the pro-Iranian Coordination Framework seems to highlight the prospects of a dangerous confrontation between Maliki and the Sadrist movement and its Sunni and Kurdish allies, in pursuit of political control in Iraq by force.

If authentic, the leaked audio recordings would mean that Maliki has reached the conclusion that an intra-Shia war might be unavoidable to break the stalemate with al-Sadr, whom he describes as a bloodthirsty murderer and calls his supporters cowards.

In the most recently-leaked audio recording, Maliki is heard saying, “Iraq is on the verge of a devastating war from which no one will emerge unscathed, unless the project of Moqtada al-Sadr, Massoud Barzani and Muhammad al-Halbousi is defeated. If we defeat their project, Iraq will survive and if we are not able to achieve that, Iraq will enter the danger zone.”

He added, "I know that Sadr will target me first because I destroyed him. But I will not keep the Shia and Iraq in the hands of Moqtada al-Sadr. The ministry of the interior maybe not be able to do so, but I am not. Sadr is a spiteful man with three three bad traits: he is bloodthirsty. He is also a coward who craves for money having robbed the whole country.”

Staying with Iraq, the Turkish government continues to terrorize northern Iraq (the Kurdistan) and to violate Iraq's national sovereignty. Turkey has set up military bases in Iraq and has troops on the ground. These are acts of war. PRESS TV reports, "At least five people, including a woman, have been killed in a Turkish drone strike in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region of northern Iraq, as Ankara ramps up its cross-border offensives in the Arab country." Christian Peace Teammakers notes that Turkey has killed at least 129 civilians in Iraq and wounded at least 180 more since 2015. Seth J. Frantzman (JERUSALEM POST) notes:

Sometimes it is used for domestic propaganda, with Ankara claiming great victories over “terrorists.” However, these victories are largely mythical and Ankara can’t seem to ever “defeat” the groups it is fighting. Instead, Turkey wants to expand operations. Airstrikes near Mosul represent an escalation. Baghdad has often ignored battles so long as they take place in the autonomous Kurdish region. But federal troops, and pro-Iran militias, operate in the Nineveh governorate around Mosul. As such, Turkey is bombing areas that are closer to Baghdad.

According to Rudaw, Nineveh’s Governor Najim al-Jubouri “later in the day said the drone that hit the area was Turkish and called on the Iraqi government to protest such actions to the Turkish government. News outlets of Iraq’s Iran-backed parties also said that the attack was conducted by Turkey. Ankara has not commented on the incident as of yet.”

Pro-Iran militias have increased their calls for Turkey to stop its attacks. In the last months, there have been numerous attacks on a Turkish base near Bashiqa. The attacks used rockets and are apparently carried out by pro-Iran militias. One of these militias has taken a name linked to Yazidis, the minority once targeted by ISIS and which is now targeted by Turkey. However, it is assumed the militia is actually a stand-in for pro-Iranian militias such as Kataib Hezbollah. Iranian-backed militias also target US forces in the Kurdistan region. This means Turkey’s operations have wider regional implications. Turkey’s leader is meeting with Iran and Russia this week and Turkey wants to launch a new operation in Syria. Turkey claims its new operation in Syria will also target “PKK terrorists.” Thus, Turkey is extending its endless war potentially in the two countries.

Al-Ain media in the UAE has also reported on Turkey’s growing operations. Al-Ain reported on Monday that a Turkish soldier was recently killed in northern Iraq. That report says this is the second Turkish soldier killed. “The Turkish Ministry had previously announced in several statements the killing of more than 10 soldiers and two security guards in northern Iraq, since June 11 last year,” the report says.

Of Joe's visit to Iraq, we'll note his visit with prime minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi. Amr Salem (IRAQI NEWS) reports:

The Iraqi Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, met on Saturday with US President, Joe Biden, on the sidelines of the summit held in Jeddah in which the United States, the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Iraq, Egypt and Jordan participated, according to a statement issued by the Prime Ministry press office.

Al-Kadhimi and Biden affirmed their mutual commitment to the strong bilateral partnership between Iraq and the United States, in accordance with the Strategic Framework Agreement for a Relationship of Friendship and Cooperation between the United States of America and the Republic of Iraq.

Both sides also confirmed their determination to proceed with security coordination to ensure that ISIS will never reappear again, according to a joint statement issued by both officials.

Al-Kadhimi discussed with Biden several regional issues, and both sides agreed that the relationship between Iraq and the United States is based on common interests, strengthening Iraq’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, security and stability.

Both sides stressed the importance of forming a new Iraqi government that responds to the will of the Iraqi people, and respects Iraq’s democracy and independence.

Laurie Mylroie (KURDISTAN 24) adds:

Unlike Obama, under whom Biden served as Vice-President, Biden supported the 2003 war that ousted Saddam Hussein and his regime. Indeed, in late 2002, as the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Biden, along with his Republican colleague, Chuck Hagel, was dispatched by the George W. Bush administration to consult with the Kurdish leadership in preparation for the war coming.

As Biden noted in comments before his meeting with Kadhimi, he has known the Iraqi leader “for a long time,” and “we want to be as helpful as we can” to help you in building Iraqi democracy.

In a joint statement issued after their meeting, the two leaders “reaffirmed their shared commitment to the strong bilateral partnership between Iraq and the United States under the Strategic Framework Agreement and their determination to continue security coordination to ensure that ISIS can never resurge.”

The Strategic Framework Agreement was concluded in 2008 under the Bush administration as it prepared to leave office and sought to establish the basis for an enduring relationship with Baghdad.

The two leaders “also reaffirmed the importance of forming a new Iraqi government,” which is “responsive to the will of the Iraqi people” and reflects “Iraq’s democracy and independence,” their joint statement said.

Joe returned to the US where he faces many problems. Shannon Jones (WSWS) reports:

The purchasing power of American workers’ wages suffered another sharp drop last month, as the official inflation rate reached 9.1 percent while pay rises remained suppressed far below that level.

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, real wages fell 3.1 percent between June 2021 and June 2022. In the month of June alone, real average weekly earnings declined by 1 percent. More up-to-date figures from the Wall Street Journal put the decline in real wages at 4.4 percent.

The devastating impact of inflation on the working class is demonstrated by the collapse in purchasing power of the federal minimum wage. Frozen at $7.25 an hour since 2009, it stands at its lowest value in 66 years. The 13-year freeze on the minimum wage, enforced by Democratic and Republican administrations alike, is the longest period without a raise since it was established in 1938 during the Roosevelt administration.

By comparison, the real value of the minimum wage in current dollars was $12.12 in 1968.

The surge of inflation is part of a class policy aimed at making workers pay for the criminal and incompetent response of the ruling class to the pandemic, including the vast bailout of the banks and financial institutions to the tune of trillions of dollars. At the same time, while health care and vital public services are being starved for funds the government has lavished vast amounts on the war machine. Military spending under the Democratic Biden administration now stands at record levels.

As the demand on food banks increases across the United Sates, now might be a good time to remember Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's meltdown on CNN where she claimed "We feed them."